


Heart of Wisdom

by ButifulDeath



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
Genre: Action, Drama, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Romance, Sexual Assault, zelink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:21:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 40,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9334988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButifulDeath/pseuds/ButifulDeath
Summary: Having returned the Master sword to The Sacred Grounds, the rifts in the fabric of time and space healed, friends returned home and the Guardian of Time disappeared back to her vigil, now as Lana, Hyrule began to pick up the pieces left in Ganon’s wake. But the ramifications of the cycle interrupted are not yet fully understood...





	1. Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Started posting this on Tumblr, but it's the best one I have at the moment and wanted to share. It starts as fluff and continues to be, but there's some dark stuff later on. Couple of chapters will have stronger warnings, as a heads up. Also still a WIP at the moment.
> 
> *UPDATE*  
> Updated the tags - Each chapter has notes, so if there's something you'd rather avoid, you'll know which chapter to skip. Thanks to CareaLena2 for the advice.

_Having returned the Master sword to The Sacred Grounds, the rifts in the fabric of time and space healed, friends returned home and the Guardian of Time disappeared back to her vigil, now as Lana, Hyrule began to pick up the pieces left in Ganon’s wake.  
Returning to Hyrule Castle shoulder to shoulder, Link was greeted with a Hero’s welcome. Hyrule Council was moved to promote the young knight, and recommended head of Castle guard. However it was the princess’s wish that the Hero of Time become her personal guard. _

It had been a week since the defeat of Ganon on Hyrule Field, and Link stared out the window wistfully. Not for reliving that horrifying event - he still couldn’t get the smell out of his blue scarf despite the magic of the castle’s washer women - but because somehow fighting a primordial beast crafted from the soul of a hungry, warmongering madman and the heart of destruction seemed less painful than the tedium of a Council Meeting. After covering literally all of the new births and deaths reported from around the kingdom, the old man with the dry, boring voice droned on about the crop and livestock counts and any issues reported to the court.  


It was all Link could do to stay awake without groaning.  


That and watch Princess Zelda. How she managed to stay interested and sincerely focused was beyond him. But there she sat, golden hair illuminated like unto a divine halo by the morning sun and intently watching the Chamberlain list off how many goats there were in the eastern village. While he’d become accustomed to the warrior he knew her to be, Zelda was not presently dressed for battle. Instead she wore a dress of light blue with an overdress the color of a the afternoon sky that made her violet-blue eyes look all the more lavender. Her crown was also not that of the war general, and while the jewels were in a similar pattern, they were red, and the gold settings were smaller and far less pointy.  


Lost to his silent admiration of her for the moment, Link found himself sighing softly. What a week it had been since that moment where they had together saved Hyrule - and apparently not for the first time. Midna, of all people, had taken him aside one night before they’d fought Cia and explained everything to him so that he would not be surprised by what they found in the Temple of Souls. It was good that she had too - He was brave, but that entire experience had been beyond upsetting. Midna had explained that while he was not the Link she had known, his soul was, and that he was bound to the Goddess Hylia - alive in the blood and soul of the beautiful Princess sitting next to him and discussing more livestock with her Chamberlain.  


He’d felt it, the moment she’d looked at him in the courtyard, while the soldiers were talking, wondering what the princess was doing ‘wasting her time’ with them, he’d felt it. Felt that her eyes were on and only for him… as his were her. He’d not even noticed Impa until they were called away. At the time he’d dismissed it as his romantic heart and overactive imagination, but after talking with Midna, things made a lot more sense.

Unfortunately this week had not gone how he’d hoped. As the head of the Princess’s personal guard, he’d expected to spend more time… well… around the Princess. Instead he’d been given an exhaustive course on the Castle grounds, tactics, battlements, secret passages and every inch of grey stone and garden Impa could dig up and claim was the Castle. He’d also been made to memorize every weapon, shield, harness, buckle and grommet in the Armory, every face on the staff, even having had Impa incorporate a few imposters to try and throw him, but while he’d passed every challenge she’d flung at him with flying colors, by the time he made it anywhere near Zelda’s chambers, she was asleep for the evening and he could not enter, instead merely guarding her door.  


Summoned to her chamber this morning had made his heart thrill with excitement, but he’d walked in to find Impa…. Again…. There with the princess when he’d been requested as her escort to the council meeting. But he’d smiled, eyes only for Zelda, and accepted on one knee, as was expected of him. He did so wish that he could have a moment to talk with her. They had spoken many times over the last months. Candidly by the campfire 9n the side of Death Mountain, in the safety of the Goddess Statue when they’d had to regroup in Skyloft, and many more times now that he knew his conversations with Sheik had also been her - but never about their pasts that he now knew, and wondered idly if she did.  


That was what had done it. Certainly she was beautiful and strong. But Sheik he had considered a friend. Funny, wise, intelligent and with scathing humor when only he seemed to be paying attention, Link had known he was dangerously close to love when Zelda revealed she had been Sheik all along.  


And somehow he’d known? But then if he listened to Midna, that’s because he did know, because he knew her. And it wasn’t so strange that he loved her so easily, so quickly. He’d loved her, and she him, in many life times.  


Now, only if he could get her alone to speak with her. He had no idea where they stood currently, if she knew or had any inclination to their histories beyond what they’d seen in Ganon and Lana. Maybe after this meeting…  


He watched as her eyed flicked to him briefly, and her expression softened from the grim intensity she’d been wearing since the meeting had been called to order. In fact, the corners of her eyes seemed to turn up in a secret smile just for him, causing the Hero’s heart to tense violently and reaffirm his hope.

-

Zelda was so aware of the way Link continued to watch her, it was all she could do to stay focused. He looked tired, and she wanted to comfort him. He’d been so busy over the last week she’d hardly been able to see him. That was until this morning. She’d been observing his tasks and duties since her decree for him to be her personal guard, and those observations lead her to have a meeting with Impa that morning.  


_She’d sat in her bedchamber, playing her harp softly as she waited for her most trusted companion to arrive, smiling at the idea this conversation was even necessary. She knew it was from a place of good, but… well it was going to stop.  
_

_The knock heralded Impa’s arrival a moment before Zelda stood and bid her enter. The Captain of the Royal guard came in a bowed politely, in her respectfully informal manner. “Majesty,” Impa said standing, “What calls me to you so early this morning? Have the nightmares returned?”  
_

_Zelda smiled gently and shook her head. “No, my friend. I am well. However I must ask you something.”_

_“Anything, Highness.”_

_“For what reason are you keeping our Hero so busy that I have been unable to speak with him in more than seven days and nights?”_

_Impa gulped and visibly looked… well guilty. She knew better than to lie to Zelda. Triforce or no, reading people was a specialty of the Princess’s. “Highness… I, well you see, Zelda-” The Princess listened with a gentle smile. She knew what it was. Impa felt responsible for Zelda. Since the death of her parent’s at a young Age, Impa had been Zelda’s guardian. She was like a mentor, an older sister, Zelda’s dearest friend._

_Walking forward and setting her harp on the bed, Zelda smiled, taking Impa’s hand in both of hers. “Impa, your concern for my heart and virtue is appreciated. You are my dearest friend. But I am no longer a girl, and wish to make my own decisions, even if they become mistakes. I am a woman now. A Princess-”_

_“And the reincarnation of the Goddess,” Impa pointed out, eyes squeezed shut against her stinging chagrin._

_“Yes.”_

_“And the Royalty of Hyrule.”_

_“Yes.”_

_“And looking at a peasant boy trainee as if he hung the moon and stars.”_

_Smiling more broadly, Zelda shook her head. “He is a knight… and The Hero. My Hero.”_

_“Yes but-”_

_“No Impa,” Zelda said and reached up to cup her friend and guardian’s face, willing the magic of the triforce and the goddess to aid her. “Remember…”_

_When it happened, when Impa’s mind opened to the times she’d shared a life with them, when she’d aided their quests against the Darkness, Zelda felt it. Tears streaming down Impa’s cheeks she met Zelda’s eyes. “Your Hero,” she said, a new understanding taking root in the Sheikah’s mind. “You you hardly know him in this life.”_

_“And I don’t think that’s much going to change if you keep him so busy I never get to see him, do you?” Zelda asked, but with a kind smile and laugh. “Now, why don’t we summon him to escort me to the meeting, and then perhaps our Hero can have the day off from memorizing the kitchen pans, yes?”_

And there they sat, Zelda giving genuine responses and answers while equally counting the heartbeats until they were done. His gaze was like the caress of fairy’s wings over her skin the likes of which she found exceedingly distracting. Finally the Council meeting was called to an end, and each of the members paid their respects before exiting the chamber. As soon as the last eyes were off them, Zelda slumped back in her chair and sighed. 

Suddenly Link was beside her. “Highness?” he said taking her hand. “Are you alright? Faint? Can I get you anything?”

“Not unless you have a way to make our dear Chamberlain less boring,” she said softly, squeezing his hand. She felt his pause as his mind shifted gears from concern to amusement. Taking a knee, he rest his elbow on the arm of her chair, and chin in the bend of his resting elbow. She also noted he did not remove his hand from hers. 

“That would be a true miracle, I think,” Link grinned softly, facing beaming up to her. The warmth in his gaze as she met his clear, crystal blue eyes made her blush. He was so very handsome, and adorable when he looked at her like that. “No greater a miracle than having a moment to myself with you, though.”

“I have addressed that with Impa,” Zelda promised with a soft smile. “Your duties will steer more now towards actually protecting me.”

“Not that you need it,” he chuckled. “I’ve seen you with a sword. And hope to never be on your bad side.”

She smiled and turned in her chair to face him full on, her heart skipping with giddy excitement to finally be alone with him. She wanted to ask him what he knew, what he remembered once the timelines had merged. But she hadn’t the first clue how to start. “Link, I want to ask you,” she said and leaned a bit forward. 

Her hero, in his newly cleaned and pressed green tunic leaned up from where his chin had been resting and over the arm with a hopeful smile. “Anything, Princess.”

“Zelda.”

“Hmm?”

“Please, when not in formal court, please just call me Zelda.” She watched as a smile blossomed over his face, chasing chill bumps from her head to her toes. 

“Of course, Zelda. Was that what you wanted to ask?”

“No, I-”

But a knock at the chamber interrupted her and they both jumped up to attention, Zelda with her back straight and hands folded delicately once more in her lap, Link standing straight up aside her chair, hands behind his back. Impa came in rapidly storming across the room in her blue and gold attire, one long braid swaying violently with the rapid paced she’d adopted and looking nonplussed. “Highness,” she said heeding her stride by taking a knee. 

“Impa?” Zelda asked, sharing an expression of growing concern with Link, “What’s wrong?”

“We have a problem.”


	2. A New Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Under threat of a new war, new concern for a Hyrule still rebuilding is born.

The Gerudan envoy marched into the throne room in a blaze of color and shining gold. The morning sun streaming through the high windows in the stone walls glinted off bracelets that chimed together as their wearers moved equally as brilliantly as the sharpened edges of their bladed spears and scimitars.

Link stood steadfastly beside the throne to Zelda’s right, Impa to the left and despite his earlier fluster of the General’s interruption, the Hero had no doubt this was of a time it had been necessary. Stealing a glance to Zelda, she sat regally, hands resting delicately on the stone arms of the throne before she stood to greet the Gerudan platoon. They’d been introduced as a diplomatic envoy, but Link knew warriors when he saw them. These men and women were not here for trade or diplomacy.

At the fore of the three dozen desert soldiers was a woman. She was average height and athletic, her hair pulled back severely in a high, long red ponytail that still managed to hit the back of her knees. Her clothing was light and airy in a pastel pink, a stark feminine contrast to her muscles and battle scars visible on her torso and arms, all of which were exposed for the desert style clothing that barely covered her. 

The front line directly behind the woman stopped and took a knee, but the woman did not. “Naburoo of the Gerudan Tribes,” the herald called, the woman meeting Zelda’s gazed sharply. Her skin was darkly tanned, eyes upturned in an almond shape and a strange shade of amber orange. Link thought idly that the woman might have been pretty if her nose wasn’t quite so large and pointed, making her look not unlike a large, red, desert bird. The kind that circled over carrion if her venomous expression was any indication.

“Welcome-” Zelda started, but the Naburoo woman cut her off. 

“I need no welcome, _Highness_ ,” she hissed, clearly not meaning the title respectfully. “I merely wished to inform you that after your devastation of my tribal home in the desert, that we were passing through your lands, for at _this_ _time_ we mean no open aggression. However know that this slight will not be taken lightly.”

Ever composed, Link felt tension radiate from Zelda, but doubted very much anyone but he and Impa could see. “Never has there been a slight meant from the heart of Hyrule to the lands of Gerudo. I can promise you that.”

“That is not how the Battle of the Ruins was seen,” The Woman sneered. “By Hylian law, my fiance and heir of the tribe was branded a criminal and exiled to the lands North.” Link frowned, unfamiliar with this, but watched the expression on Zelda’s face remain unchanged. No doubt she meant the battles that occurred in the Gerudan Desert when Ganon had returned when Cia, the once Guardian of Time, had been corrupted and weaken the seals on the soul of Darkness enough to resurrect him. He’d plucked the Demon Lord Ghirahim and the Usurper King Zant from their different places in time and made the heart of the Gerudan Desert their stronghold. It had been Zelda’s plan to strike at the stronghold to weaken Ganon’s forces - and it had worked. But there had been no exhile...

The Gerudan woman was continuing, however and Link was broken from his thoughts. “Then, within a few years, monsters and demons swarm and overwhelm our ancient ruins, forcing us into hiding. And what does the great law of Hyrule do?” Naburoo outright spat on the floor of the throne room, causing a few of the twitchier guards to reach for their swords. “Lays waste to all with no concern for the ancestral sites being destroyed.”

“Why have you come, Naburoo?” Zelda asked evenly, the touch of chill to her words could have stopped an army in its tracks.

Naburoo merely sneered. “I and my tribesmen are going to the North. When next you hear from us, it will be from my Lord and to be King of the Outlands. Perhap new King of yourselves. He is amassing forces and followers, and Hyrule will kneel.” With that she turned, her platoon parting to let her through before reversing rank to follow. 

The doors of the throne room boomed closed with a strange foreboding finality as Link turned slowly to watch Zelda. Looking to what court could be assembled on such short notice, the Princess’s expression was stoic and unchanged. “Dismissed,” she said to the court and held her hand to Link who supplied her with his arm as they turned to leave through the side door, Impa trailing behind. 

The moment they were out of the public eye and in her private study, Link stepped in front of Zelda and took her arms gently to steady her and met her gaze. “Are you alight?”

“I’m fine,” she said coolly, but he knew that tone. That was her ‘addressing the troops and the Council purely business’ tone.

“Zelda-”

“I’m fine, Link…”

-

She wasn’t fine. Her heart was racing at the thought of another war so soon after the last. The battles with Cia and Ganon had depleted their resources… and the army. If it weren’t for Link’s hands on her arms she would have been swaying.

“Zelda, here sit down,” he said sweetly, but she was afraid if she moved she’d pass out. He could clearly see something in her eyes or expression, so she wasn’t doing as well as she hoped at hiding her fear. 

“I am the ruler of Hyrule,” she said, not budging, “I cannot show weakness. Princesses don’t show emotions or… I do not need to sit. I am fine-” 

Or that’s what she meant to say. “Fine” never made it all the way out before she was weightless and the world went dark. When she came to, the first thing she saw was worried blue eyes in a familiar but pale face. Link was dabbing her brow with a cool cloth, Impa standing behind him with crossed arms. 

“I’m fine,” she lied and tried to push his hand away, but he caught hers and brought it to his lips, pressing a cool, trembling kiss against her knuckles. 

“No, I’m not listening to that anymore. Because you’re not.” His voice held the timbre of worry as he watched her, fearless that he was contradicting the ruler of Hyrule.

She was laying on the lounge chair in her study, and realized suddenly she couldn’t remember the last time she laid on it - if ever. It was very comfortable. When Link leaned away to rinse the cloth for her brow and refresh the cool water, she shivered, realizing just how close he’d been. As he leaned back, she grabbed a handful of his tunic and pulled him closer. “I’m cold,” she admitted tiredly.

While he looked briefly surprised, Link smirked. “There we go, honesty. You’re a princess, I get it. But here it’s just Impa, and me. Here, you’re just Zelda. Or Sheik, I guess if you want,” he teased gently, “But hey, look at me.”

She didn’t want to, he was right and she knew that, but the Gerudan woman's threats struck her more deeply than expected. A gentle finger, warm and slightly calloused, touched her chin and turned her face to meet Link’s forgiving smile. His finger traced her jaw and Zelda felt herself shiver in delight. “You don’t have to lie to us. To me. You’ll always be my princess, but you don’t have to be a princess always. Follow?”

He was so kind. Impa had always worked around her stubbornness, but not Link, Link was honest, sincere and seemed determined to work the bad habit away. He was also so handsome her heart gave a strong pang, and it distracted and eased her mind. “I follow,” she acquiesced softly. “Thank you.”

“Zelda,” Impa said drawing her attention away from Link finally, the General's arms crossed. “How seriously are we going to take this woman’s words? She and her cadre were clearly not all of the Gerudo nation.”

There had been times Zelda had not felt up to her royal duties, but endured because it was her burden to bear in those moments. For the first time she could recall, she hesitated to shoulder that burden - with a surprising desire Zelda discovered she wanted to lay here or in her bedchamber and feel badly for just a little while longer while Link fawned over her. His affection was more what she desired than anything else, and that seemed to make all of the difference.

But she was ruler and she knew she could not do that. 

Turning her face to the ceiling, she pinched the bridge of her nose. “We need to take her seriously until proved otherwise. We need send an envoy to the Gerudans, to see how they feel, and one to the North to speak to this warlord. What do we know of him?”

“That he is vicious and been putting the fear of the Goddess into the monsters of the North,” Impa said, beginning to pace. “He was being assessed by myself and the army, gathering information before Cia’s monsters began. Nothing that had been taken seriously as it was keeping our own monsters from attacking the borders. But we also did not know it was an exiled Gerudan.”

“Griffin,” Zelda sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. “It has to be.”

“Griffin?” Link asked as Impa paused in her pacing. “Who’s that?”

Zelda didn't realize until his hand came up to cover hers that she was still gripping the front of his tunic. He didn’t remove it, but instead his thumb began drawing affectionate circles over her knuckles when he saw her growing distress. “A Gerudo Warrior who killed a Rito Diplomat from the East. He’d claimed it was self defense, and a misunderstanding.” She shook her head against the pillow beneath it at the recollection. “I despise executions. I know some are necessary, but I could not order his execution if there was any question that he might have been telling the truth.”

“Despite the fact he seemed to have no remorse, the circumstances were suspicious, the Rito were outraged and seemed to have the evidence they desired to prove his guilt,” Impa ticked off. “The man was guilty, and I encouraged Zelda to have him executed… but her wisdom and mercy are the treasures of this land.” Impa seemed to genuinely believe her words, despite being irritated. “So he was exiled.”

The weight of guilt and fear for her people, all of them - Rito, Gerudo, Hylians all- was like a physical weight on her chest. “Was I wrong?”

There was heavy silence a moment, where Link looked subtly back and forth betwixt Zelda and Impa. Eventually he leaned slightly into Zelda with that sigh-inducing smirk of his. “I don’t think mercy is ever a wrong call. At least not the first time.”

With a grateful sigh and nod, Zelda turned to look at him fighting back tears. Even if she  _ had _ been wrong, the words of her Hero eased her mind a touch. 

“I will go make preparations for the envoys to be sent North and South,” Impa said heading for the door, her anger diffusing in the face of action, even menial instead of battle. “Hero,” she added pausing at the door, “I trust I can leave you to accompany the Princess to her chambers?”

Zelda smiled as she watched color flush to Link’s cheeks, but he nodded. “I think I can handle that.”


	3. Rememberance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3! The chapter of fluff. I’ve gotten a bit more, and things are gonna get a bit dark later… so enjoy the fluff… for now! bum bum BUMMM
> 
> WARNINGS: Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

If Link had been nervous before in his life, it was nothing in compare to standing with his back to the dressing screen while Zelda changed clothes. His palms were sweating and his heart beat twice as fast. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, he wasn’t even looking, and yet he felt like he was. Guilt over his desire, how badly he  _ wanted _ to look perhaps?

“Link?” her soft voice caused him to jump from his impure thoughts and turn around when her hand rest on his shoulder. “Are you alright?” She’d changed from her lovely dress to a flowy, gathered tunic of pastel lavender and soft, white leggings under warm, lavender socks that came above her knee. She was a vision and seemed far more comfortable than she had before. 

“Hmm? No. Yes! I mean…” He sighed and shook his head. “I mean both. Today’s been stressful for everyone. This threat, I understand why it upsets you - we’re still recovering resources from fighting Ganon. Hell, the castle isn’t even rebuilt!” He watched her eyes darken with worry, his words echoing her inner fears, but he took her hands and brought them to his chest. He needed to touch her somehow, a need that while fairly new had been growing for a time now, exacerbated over the last week and brought to a boiling crescendo just now being in the same room where she’d changed clothing… her bedchamber. “But we have you to lead us, and you have me to protect you, and we have a true alone moment for the first time in a short eternity… so I’m also alright.”

He watched her smile and blush, her beautiful gaze lifting from where she’d been looking at their hands on his chest to his eyes. “I can ask you what I wanted to ask you before our day took a turn for the worse. Come,” she said and pulled him with her to the side of her bed by her hands that he was still holding against him, and Link’s traitorous body started betraying him in a dozen different ways. His knees started to feel weak, his heart racing as if she’d just asked him to ravish her right there (which would have been less of a big deal if her hands weren’t still resting above his heart), and of course things… lower… were reacting to being in proximity to her and her bed…

She smiled up to him, seeming to notice at least some of his discomfort, using the moment to reclaim her hands. What came next helped his wandering mind not at all. She reached up to take off his hat and his scarf. “Off with the armor,” she said with a grin that wasn’t  _ quite  _ even, nor was it  _ quite  _ kind - as if she might have an idea of what she was doing to him. He swallowed audibly and acquiesced, trying to tell himself that he’d never even kissed her! There was no way that which his desire was hoping for was about to happen. 

“There,” she said softly, looking him over in his white under tunic and tan breeches. “Now you’re Just Link, and I am just Zelda. No hero, no Personal Guard, no Princess.” She smiled up to him, and he realized she was wearing none of her accessories, no crown or rings… merely her earrings and she did indeed look normal in compare to her usually regal bearing. She was also crawling onto her bed without poise or assumed grace and sat up crossed legged, patting the bed next to her. “Sit with me. This shall not likely be a short conversation.”

Okay this was getting tense. He  _ had _ to be blushing, and he might explode if she continued this sweet torment. Without her crown, her bangs fell into her eyes when she smiled and tilted her head at him. “I don’t bite. And we shared a bed roll in the desert for warmth… with Midna no less.”

He worried for a moment his hesitation might start hurting her feelings, and found himself scrambling onto the bed up next to her. “No… it’s… not that, it’s that… you- I mean I…” Good job Link, way to sound like a luddite. He clenched his teeth together and closed his eyes in an attempt to parse his thoughts and try again. When he opened his eyes, she was smiling at him a little closer than before, and words again flew from his mind like a startled flock of birds.

“You remember, don’t you?” she asked softly. “What it means that you are my Hero, and I am your Princess?”

He let out a breath he’d not realized he was holding. Thank the Goddess that elephant in the room wasn’t only seen by him. Nodding, he relaxed back onto the bed, propping himself up on his elbows. “Midna told me, trying to prepare me for Cia’s Sanctum. As she was explaining what she knew, it was like the clouds parted and the memories happened. Not all in detail, and if I try to think about things too hard, it’ll slip like a dream, but I know it, and I remember so much. Remember that eternity, is a little different for us,” he added, having regained some confidence. He reached out and testing the waters, his arms still propping his weight, but his fingers reaching out to touch hers. 

Her eyes shone in the shadow of her canopied bed, and her fingers twined with his, “So you remember the hero and-”

“The goddess,” he interrupted, urging her closer with a tug of his fingers. 

She blushed at that, but repositioned on the bed to be sitting directly next to him. “So… what do we do? Where do we go from here?”

“Where would you like to go?” he asked, thinking his mind was likely not providing helpful answer just then. She smelled of flowers and sunlight, and it was very distracting this close to her. 

“Well,” she said, her cheeks red as she studied her lap bashfully, “We’ve become friends over the last few months. You’re very dear to me, and I find I enjoy your company greatly. I trust you, and I find my mind wanders to you when given a spare moment. I have all these memories, and pangs of emotions from the past, but I found my affection had begun before that… and I feel it important to be honest about these things since it’s all very confusing, and yet not at the same time, like it has always been. And to be up front with my feelings since you asked that I be honest and not always the princes-”

She was rambling and it was adorable in the most endearing display he’d seen from her yet. To see her human, warm, confidence slipping… it made him want to say anything and everything to build her back up, ease her fears, erase her nerves. So instead, he sat up and leaned his head down into her line of sight between her nose and her lap. It earned him a precious look of surprise that made him smile.

“I saw you on the wall,” he said softly, “Right before everything started, long before Cia and my talk with Midna. Even then, I knew. I didn’t understand it, but I knew. I think you did too.” Her surprise melted into smile and she nodded. They looked at each other a moment more and words failed, so Link didn’t bother. He leaned up and pressed his lips to hers gently, giving her a chance to withdraw if she wanted to. When she didn’t, he straightened without breaking their kiss and eased her closer to him where they now both sat on the bed. 

His hands rest on her waist and eased around her back slowly, and he found he couldn’t stop the groan of desire that escaped his throat. 

 

Zelda’s nerves were alight with surprise, joy, and so much more as she relaxed against him. When the soft male sound he made touched her lips, she smiled. Her lips still touched his as her eyes opened before she leaned back just enough to look at him. His eyelids were heavy, as a man who’d had too much wine. 

“If we do this,” he said softly, “I will never be able to give you up to a prince.”

Zelda frowned. “What do you mean?”

His blue eyes opened, gaze intensely filled with sincerity and something far deeper… far older. “You’re the Queen of Hyrule - called Princess or no. You  _ will _ be queen, will the Council try to pressure you to marry a nobleman?”

Sitting up straight, Zelda crossed her arms and giving him the most petulant expression she could muster, looking him directly in the eye. “They can certainly try. But it will be futile. I can think of no better eventual Patriarch for Hyrule than the man who saved it. Numerous times,” she added, and watched as his tension faded back into the look she was coming to recognize on his face as desire. Before he could speak, Zelda reached out and grabbed his tunic, pulling him down to the bed with her, and tucked herself under his arm. Cheek resting on his shoulder and face tucked against his neck, her arm rest over his waist as to better snuggle to him as his arms encircled her to hold her close. 

“There,” she said softly, “This is more like it. Does this ease your mind that I will fight for you?”

“Mmm,” he said softly, breathing in the scent of her hair. “I never doubted it.”

She smiled, her lips against the soft skin of his neck. “Good. Will you stay?”

“...Here?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Tonight?”

“And other nights…”

“Impa?”

Zelda smiled. “She knows.”

“She knows and  _ won’t _ castrate me?”

“Correct.”

Link’s hand came to turn her chin up to look at him, his expression soft with many emotions that he tried to reign in. “Then I will stay every night if you will have me.”

Her smile was so broad she could smile no wider and she leaned up to kiss him again chastely. She felt the burn of desire within her, but had no idea if it was appropriate or how to even convey such. She had every intention of being proper about their courtship, and make it official at the next Council meeting. Link would be her betrothed, her Royal Consort, and perhaps one day, her King. 

His hands on her back remained austere, but promised so much more it was difficult to remember it was merely late afternoon and staying in bed for the rest of the day was not yet an option. Their kisses were coming more rapidly, and her desire to halt the increase of passion’s momentum was low, but they’d not even had supper, let alone the imminent threat of new war looming over them that needed to be discussed. 

Pulling back just enough to halt the tasting of his soft, sweet lips, Zelda shuddered and sighed at herself. “We shouldn’t.”

“I know,” Link groaned, and leaned forward to bury his face into her hair, holding her close. 

“Would it ease you,” she asked, running her fingers through his hair, “To know I do not wish to halt affections?”

“No,” he whined, one hand caressing her side, perhaps toeing the line of chastity. “Months… months now…”

“I know,” she said softly, turning her face to kiss his ear. “But we have this. And we will have this. And then the Council will be informed you are my betrothed, and we will have courtship… and then I will have you, my sweet hero.”

“You already have me, princess,” he purred and his words touched her very soul.

“No,” she smiled, feeling herself blush, “I meant  _ have _ you.”

He tensed so quickly and completely she wasn’t sure he was breathing as the images her words evoked flashed behind his eyes. Her giggles became a peel of genuine laughter when her poor hero made a sound not unlike the whimper of a starving wolf, their voices echoing the most mirth the castle had seen in nearly half a year.


	4. Allies and Enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 - Setting up for things getting real.
> 
> WARNINGS: Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

Another week went by and preparations were being made for the envoys departures to the North and South. Zelda watched the courtyard bustling with activity as the caravans were stocked with supplies, horses re-shod, and travelers conversing. They would be leaving that afternoon after she addressed them, directly after the Council meeting. The same Council meeting at which she would be informing the Council that Link was to be her betrothed.

There wasn't much call for her overseeing the preparations happening, Link was personally taking care of that. That, however, was precisely why she was watching. Her Hero was helping lift crates and barrels onto the carts, sleeves rolled up and his growing hair tied back in a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. The sun glistened on his face, perspiration from his exertion highlighting his cheekbones and drawing many internal and fluttered sighs from the princess as she observed.

“You’ve been sighing like a schoolgirl for days.” Zelda startled at Impa’s voice from behind her. Though Impa was well capable of sneaking up on her if the General so chose, Zelda knew it was instead her fixation on Link that had brought it about this time, rather than Impa’s effort.

Smiling guiltily, the princess nodded. “Has it been so noticeable?”

“Quite.”

Turning back to watch Link, she found him looking up to her from the courtyard. One hand shading his eyes from the sun, he raised his other to wave, and Zelda rewarded him with a smile and wiggle of her fingers back. “Can you blame me?”

Impa rolled her eyes good-naturedly and came to stand next to Zelda in the arch of the breezeway. “I hope the Council shares my understanding. But that will be dealt with later. I came to let you know there is a visitor here requesting an audience. I think you will want to speak with him.”

 

***

In the throne room, the great double doors opened to reveal a familiar shape in red armor. His helm, made of hammered steel and the same red metal as his full, heavy battle armor was forged, bore two long, steel horns that curled around his cheeks.  Zelda knew the helm mimicked the magical beast of which the man was capable of taking the form. Though once an enemy, heart twisted by Darkness, Zelda now smiled genuinely to see Volga, the Dragonknight striding towards her.

Taking a knee at the base of the dais, Volga bowed his head in respect. “Rise, noble Dragonknight,” Impa said from her spot on Zelda’s right, the three of them the only ones now present as the heralds closed the doors behind them.

As Volga stood, Zelda beamed. “Volga. It is good to see you well.”

“Highness,” he said respectfully in his deep, and graveled voice. “I come with an offer of information and aid.”

“Oh?”

With a nod, he looked from Zelda to Impa and back. “I have heard of the Gerudan woman, Naburoo’s words and came quickly as I was able. As you know, my lands are further North than here in Castle Town. I saw them through nearly a week hence now, and have heard of the man, this Warlord Griffin of the Outlands. He is cruel and power hungry, and bitter over his exile, as I’m sure you might have guessed.”

“We had,” Zelda confirmed, her heart in her throat to have such news confirmed.

“Have you heard that many believe him to be the reincarnation of the very foe we slew not a fortnight ago?”

Both Zelda and Impa tensed, sharing a concerned glance. “What do you mean?” Impa asked, coming down the dais steps slowly, to stand on the same level with Volga. Zelda too joined them, her heart threatening to stop at this new concept.

“It is true,” The Dragonknight confirmed, removing his horned helmet to reveal his brassy blonde hair and ruby red eyes. He looked concerned. “What worries me is that I had a dream the same night the Gerudan Envoy traveled through. A dream of Lana.”

“Lana?” Impa asked in surprise, “I thought she had returned to the Sorceress’s Sanctum and her vows to not intervene.”

“I do not know for certain she was doing such on purpose,” Volga confessed. “The dream was strange. I was in the woods, much like the first time I met her other half, Cia, the first time. But instead of an approach and offer of power, Lana was weeping in a clearing. I was the only one there to approach and asked her what was wrong. She seemed, distracted, distant - saying that if Cia had never done what she did, then things would not be as they are - it seems the Triforce of Power has been reclaimed.”

“Reclaimed?” a voice echoed from the side door. Link appeared, sweaty from work tanned from the sun, but without a trace of fatigue about him as he strode forward. Reaching out, he and Volga clasped arms. “Nice to see you, Volga.”

“And you, Hero. And yes, it seems that the Triforce that Lana had taken into her protection disappeared. The only thing that can pluck such a force from the Guardian of Balance and Time is when the soul of Ganondorf has Awakened. And Lana was weeping in the dream, because it meant this life, Hyrule would face Darkness for a second time.”

Zelda wanted to move closer to Link, this news striking true fear in her heart. If the threat of normal war wasn’t frightening enough in the shambles Hyrule’s defenses found themselves currently, the idea of another battle with Darkness so soon… was unthinkable. “How can this be?” Impa asked, crossing her arms and beginning to pace.

“Cia interrupted the Cycle,” Zelda voiced softly. “Every generation, every Cycle has a Hero,” she said and reached her hand out to Link, that he took without hesitation, “A guardian of Wisdom, and the Darkness. The Ganondorf that we battled was the very soul of Darkness, not the incarnation of the Wielder of Power for our time.”

“That is what I was led to understand, yes,” the Dragonknight nodded. “Due to the Hero’s bindings there was not to _be_ a reincarnation of the Darkness,” he sighed, “but then through Cia’s machinations, enough of the darkness was released that it seems the Warlord has Awakened. At least partially.”

“But we sealed the Darkness with the Master Sword,” Link contested, reaching to rest his arm around Zelda’s shoulders, as if he could feel her need of his strength.

Volga noticed this, and his lips quirked with a smile. “That is the question, is it not? This is why I have come to offer my services. I know of the Cycle, of the reincarnations that Cia went on about in her madness. I know who the two of you are, and who the Warlord is believed to be. If he is having memories, perhaps he will recall the most recent happenings, and see me as an ally. Either way, I wish to accompany your envoy North to the Outlands and see what information I can glean from the situation. I am a Noble of Hyrule, and have every reason to be there logically, as my land is closer to his borders. I believe my presence will not be seen as odd.”

Leaning ever so slightly against Link, Zelda nodded. “There is a Council meeting today. I will bring this up, and would request your presence. I agree that you will be a valuable addition to this envoy, for many reasons, and thank you graciously for your offer.”

Volga nodded and gave Zelda a bow. “Thank you, Highness.”

“Come,” Impa said and nodded to Volga, “Let us have a room prepared for you. I will have a squire summoned to polish your armor while you rest before the Council meeting.”

Turning on heel in his expectedly militant manner, Volga followed Impa out of the Throne room, leaving Zelda alone with Link.

“Don’t say you’re okay,” Link started, holding her closer with his arms around her shoulders. “I know-”

“I’m not,” she said honestly, fearing her knees were going to buckle. “Hyrule cannot withstand another war with the Darkness. Not so soon. If Volga and the rumors are correct, we will be nearly defenseless.”

As if he could read her mind, Link bent down and swept her feet from under her, gathering Zelda into his arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck with a squeak of surprised protest. She tried to say she could walk, despite her uncertainty, but he ignored her. Walking without a word out of the throne room and up the stairs from the corridor outside of her study, he carried her directly to her bedchamber, the one they had been sharing every night for the last week.

Laying her down on the bed, he crawled up next to her and gathered her into his arms, laying a chaste kiss in her hair. “We will figure it out,” he said finally, one hand rubbing her side affectionately. “But we don’t have to do it right this instant. What can I get you?”

There was a lump in her throat she couldn’t speak around. The fear she had now for her land and the people inhabiting coupled with the gratitude and love she felt at his empathy were overwhelming. Hot tears, tears of anger, fear and love for Link’s insight and affection stung her eyes, leaving her able to merely shake her head. “Hold me?” she managed hoarsely through her emotions.

“Always,” Link whispered and tightening his arms around her, laying there in the bed that was now theirs and letting her cry as long as she needed before the Council meeting.

 

***

 

“This is preposterous!” Lord Thrang of the Council declared, glaring at Link. Link just smirked back. He wasn’t afraid of the red faced old man. It seemed already the old codger was in the minority, and while the soft Noble attacking a trained soldier like himself would have ended poorly, Link also knew having both Impa and Volga at his back would dissuade any such actions from occurring.

Zelda was scowling at the man, hands on the table where she leaned forward. “Your objection is noted, Lord Thrang. Do any others share his sentiment?”

“How does this benefit the Kingdom?”

“What boon would come from marrying a peasant come knight?”

“What does it matter? He’s the Hero of the land…”

“Why not one of the tribal leaders of the Gerudo?”

“Yes! Settle the discourse in the South!”

The voices began to rise in a crescendo, and if the expression on her face as she stood was any indication, Link guessed Zelda was realizing slowly that perhaps she had been mistaken about the understanding and empathy of the Council. Discreetly, he reached out to take her hand where it could not be seen as they stood side by side. The hero took a breath to speak, but to his surprise it was Volga that stepped forward.

“ _Gentlemen!_ ” he commanded loud enough to get their attention without shouting. The din died down as all eyes turned to the imposing knight. “If I may?”

“And you are, sir?”

“I am Volga, the Dragonknight, Baron of Snowpeak to the North, near the borders with the Outlands. And while I have been invited by her Highness to speak to you today of the warlord in the North, I find that as a knight of the realm, my interest is invested in Hyrule’s future and that perhaps I can bring perspective to this discussion as well. With her Highness’s blessing?” Volga turned his face away from the Council with his request of Zelda, but gave her a wink where the Lords could not see.

Not knowing his game, Link was interested and Zelda hesitant, but she nodded in a choice to trust their ally.

“Is it not so that Link, the Hero of Hyrule is well received and accepted by the people?” he asked turning to address the Council once more. “That his rise from obscurity to knighthood, and to save the realm is an inspiration to the common man, and to the army to achieve more than they are?” Volga’s intense red eyes swept over the assembled, a few of the Lords nodding, others swallowing in trepidation, too nervous in the presence of the tall, intimidating knight to voice argument.

“The Baron is right,” Impa added, stepping forward. “The Hero’s accomplishments inspire the army, and have even brought us new recruits in his name, their hopes of achievement driving them to follow his footsteps. He is respected by the people.”

“And at the end of every good story, does the Hero not gain the hand of his Princess?” Volga added, turning to look at Link. “I have no doubt that the affections that ignite this desire for courtship are genuine, but also that Her Highness and the Hero of Hyrule have also considered the good it will do for the land, especially in a time there is yet threat of war. A Kingdom united will not only appear inspired and stronger, but will _be_ so in the face of threats from the Outlands.”

The Council looked to one another, murmuring amongst themselves as Link smirked to Volga. Clapping him on the shoulder, it would have inappropriate to thank him in front of the gathered, but he hoped the Baron understood.

“Has there been a formal proposal?” another Lord asked, this one seeming far less interested or hot on the subject of Hyrule’s ruler choosing who she was going to spend her life with.

“No,” Link said but remained confident.

“We were discussing details,” Zelda started, but Link squeezed her hand in silent request to continue. She looked to him and nodded.

“I was waiting for the appropriate time. I think I’ve found it though.” With his hand now visibly in hers, Link tugged Zelda away from the Council table to a place they could both be seen by all gathered. Taking a moment to compose himself, his excitement was starting to get the better of him. She was beautiful, beautiful beyond words as she looked at him with timid excitement. She was the bearer of Wisdom, he had no doubt she’d already guessed where this was going.

Taking a knee in front of her, the rest of the Council chambered melted away from his perception. There was no one but Zelda in that moment, no one but the vision of compassion, and beauty and grace and battle prowess… despite her skirts and softer crown today for the Council, she was still his warrior goddess.

Swallowing his heart back into his throat, he brought her hand to his lips to kiss. He’d run over the words in his mind a few times, but now he did not entirely trust his voice. “The first time I laid eyes on you, there was no one more beautiful in all of Hyrule. The first time we spoke, there was no voice I would rather hear. You are the strongest, kindest, most fearsome and skilled, talented and beautiful woman I have ever had the joy of walking alongside.” His eyes were locked with hers, her tears of happiness beginning to spill as her smile grew. His words were crafted for the Council, but Link meant so much more. As she had said, eternity was different for them - so when he said “ever had the joy of walking alongside”, he hoped she understood it was not just this lifetime to which he referred.

“Zelda, you are the air I breathe, and the very heart in my chest. Would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

The air was thick with tension, even Impa was leaned a touch forward, as Zelda tried to find her voice to answer. Lips moving inaudible, she seemed to be searching for words to give him in return, but Link smiled when she gave up and merely nodded tearfully saying, “Yes!”

A round of cheers went up, and it seemed that while not all despondents were swayed, the majority voted in favor of the union. Link hugged his bride to be, and stole a kiss from her neck surreptitiously before they returned to her seat at the table to go over the envoy to the Northern Outlands.

After his inspiring speech, Volga had endeared himself and was given no resistance on leading the caravan to meeting with the Warlord Griffin. As Council broke session, Volga congratulated his friends, but quickly followed Impa to finish preparing to leave forthwith, and while Zelda had to prepare for her address to the travelers, Link found she stopped him before they parted.

“Yes?” He said with a warm smile, coming to give her his undivided attention as the now empty chamber gave them privacy.

Again, her lips moved, jaw working as she searched for words, but nothing came out. She snapped her jaw shut so quickly it clicked, and before he could react Link found himself being tackled. Her lips pressed to his just as many of their sweet chaste kisses had, but with her arms about his neck, her lips parted to deepen this kiss unlike any before.

Link shuddered head to toe and had no hesitation in obliging her, his arms encircling her waist to crush her sweet weight against him as he slowly moved his tongue to taste hers for the first time. Her mouth was soft and sweet and intoxicating against his, and Link lost track of how much time passed, or how long his heart fully stopped.

When eventually she broke to gasp for breath, the smile she wore branded his heart. “What was that for?” he asked coyly, very much wondering if he could shirk the rest of his day for more of those kisses.

“For being eloquent, and brave, and romantic… and because I love you, my darling Link.”

If her smile had branded him, her words sealed his fate. His expression fell from coy amusement and desire to that of the insurmountable love he felt for her both from lifetimes past, and purely his own of this life. “And I love you, my Zelda.”


	5. The Building Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 - OH NO GANON! Or is he…? #IMeanYeahWeAllKnowItToo
> 
> WARNINGS: Suggestive themes, Teen+ recommended. Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

It was thunder-storming the day Volga and the envoy returned from their journey to the Outlands with their news. It wasn’t good news they brought with them, but neither was it entirely bad. 

Yet. 

As Zelda and Link bustled about seeing to the soaked and chilled envoy, Zelda’s mind was spinning. The Warlord had agreed, at Volga’s coercion, to a Summit with diplomats from all corners of Hyrule. Messages had already been sent out, and while they had some time to prepare Zelda was already nervous. 

Volga had verified that the Warlord radiated power. He had been unable to confirm whether or not the man held the Triforce, but it seemed the resemblances between Warlord Griffin and the Ganondorf they had laid to rest not long ago were unnerving even to the brave Dragonknight.

It had been agreed that Volga would return with them to the Summit as the representative of the North, Link, and Zelda herself representing the heart of the Kingdom and a sure fire way to confirm or deny the presence of the Triforce. Impa was to stay behind and guard the kingdom in their absence. She had offered to accompany Zelda for protection while the Hero remained behind to guard the palace, but whatever expression Zelda’s face had made drew a laugh from her guardian and the words, “I did have to try. But I agree the Triforce bearers should go.”

Which was where Zelda’s anxiety was rooted. It would take seeing, conversing to know for certain, but a part of her already knew.

The only respite in this she found was it seemed Naburoo and her platoon were the minority in their perceived offense of the battles with Darkness and had been kicked out of their tribe for their radical opinions. The Gerudan tribes of the South understood what had transpired, and were grateful the heart of Hyrule had vanquished the demons from their lands when they could not. They were even sending an envoy to the Summit to try and aid in the dissuasion of war from one of their own.

The Castle was nearly rebuilt, the land tended after the battles best it could be and the court in its right order. They were still drained of supplies, and the army was too small and who they did have were currently fairly untrained, but it was better than it had been. Such preparations had kept Zelda quite busy all week, dealing with the courts and settling disputes and reimbursements for destroyed lands and properties. Link and Impa had been tirelessly training the newest recruits in the hopes of bolstering the army and the soldiers’ moral. As it stood, she’d only been able to see Link as they were falling asleep at night, despite her efforts to stay awake long enough to talk. 

Now, she stood on her sheltered balcony in the storm, shawl wrapped about her shoulders against the damp wind as she watched the lightning and waited. Solitary contemplation had been scarce for her, and after Volga’s report, that she was only now given the opportunity seemed cruel. Not only did her thoughts chase themselves in circles in her mind, but they inspired and collected bits of past life, dark recollection to spice the reflections. The destruction that was nearly brought to the Realm a few months prior. A time when Twilight covered the land and she was a puppet, forced to fight her hero. An Era of unending Darkness in which time had to be manipulated to fix…

...And all of it was going to happen again, for a second time, in this life alone. 

It was enough to bring tears to her eyes. How was she to find the strength to endure for her people? Her Friends? The man she loved? No one should have to live through that which she and her friends had already survived… and now twice?

She tried to console herself with the thought that perhaps Griffin was  _ not _ Ganon reborn, but it was futile. She felt it in the very air - Darkness had returned.

When her bedchamber door opened inside, she turned with hope that her summon was being met. Heart skipping in relief, Zelda rushed inside and into the waiting arms of Link. He was damp from the rain, as was she, but he didn’t hesitate. Scooping her up into his arms, he moved to the bed and set her down, taking the moment to kick off his boots before crawling beside her and reclaiming her into his arms. 

In the intimate setting with naught but her betrothed, Zelda was unable to contain her emotional reaction. Weeping into his chest softly, Link’s hands caressing her back were a slight comfort. “Have you spoken with Volga?”

“No,” Link sighed, but he sounded angry. “He’s resting, but Impa brought me up to speed.”

Relief that she didn’t have to regale the Dragonknight’s tale again pulled a sob from her throat. “Link, what are we going to do?” 

“I… don’t know. Not yet, but we... we’ll figure it out. Impa is in the library researching what she can find on the old magics, details we don’t remember. You should see those poor, terrified librarians she’s been barking at.” He chuckled, and Zelda smiled against his chest through her tears. He never failed to find a way to lift her spirits. “She also thinks we should reclaim the Master Sword before we go. Just in case.”

Zelda was silent a moment as she weighed that idea in her mind. “No. Not yet. There is still Darkness trapped there. We need not help the possible new Ganon more than we can avoid.”

“That’s basically what I said… just not as eloquently.”

Turning her face up to his, Zelda watched as a pained expression crossed Link’s face a moment before he began to wipe her tears. “What’s wrong?”

“I have just discovered that I cannot bear to see you cry and I will literally break every bone in the Gerudan man’s body for causing you this. Ganon or not.”

“You don’t mean that.”

His eyebrows went up. “Try me.”

“That’s not very good diplomacy,” she teased, feeling better in his arms and under the care of his affection.

“Well, he’s not great at it either. I think Darunia’s hammer might be more satisfying a means of expressing my displeasure with him. Darunia’s hammer directly into his face. I think that will send a pretty clear message, don’t you?” Zelda was laughing now, and while her fears were not erased, they were eased, as Link always had the gift to do. He reached up and caressed her cheek, wiping away the last of her tears. “There’s that smile I love.”

“Just the smile?” she asked, leaning in to close the distance between their lips a bit more.

“And everything attached,” he purred before his lips covered hers and there was nothing but sweet kisses until they fell asleep in one anothers arms.

***

Far to the north, a different storm raged. The blizzard winds battered the mountainside keep as Naburoo huddled inside her cloak. Ths hellish existence was far different from the warm sands of Gerudo Valley where she'd been a child. But such was exile.

Leaning into the wind, she successfully mounted the last few steps if only barely, and pulled open the large, oak double doors. Warmth and the smell of cooking boar greeted her and as the boom of the closing doors echoed through the stone hall. Letting the firelit start to warm her, she leaned against those same doors and sighed, exhausted.

He stood at the fire, one arm behind his back and the other supported his weight where he leaned against the large mantle. There was only the fire to shed light despite the many fire places, so the hall danced with dim shadows and glowing red. The man that she'd loved since she was very young had recently been plagued with nightmares, and the lack of true sleep made his headache. She worried for what he might be contemplating so deeply.

"My Lord," she called and doffed her cloak to the peg insider the door, "the Bobkins and Moblins have nothing to report. The borders are secure." Striding across the stone floor, she probably would have been warmer if she didn't wear the low cut top and hip-slung pants in the style of their people, but Griffin was more and more distracted nowadays, and she desired to be noticed.

His fingers worked against the mantle in a fidget, as his lips curled. "I'm sure they find me quite mad, as do all," he said, his deep, rumbling bass voice sending chills over her skin as she approached.

Running her hands up one of his great, muscular arms, Naburoo admired his features in the firelight. A strong Gerudan nose and fiery red hair to match her own, even the darkness and chill of the north could not pale their naturally dark skin. He was tall, over six feet and muscular. She adored and desired everything about him.

As a handful of miniblins rushed around, chattering to each other as they prepared their master's dinner, Naburoo rubbed her cheek on his arm like an affectionate cat. "Moblins, Bobkins and all other goblins are not intelligent enough to question you, Lord Griffin. You are a powerful warlock, and they recognize that power. Your dreams of invasion and your command to patrol the borders they will not question."

He stared intently at the fire still. But her words tugged a smile at the corners of his mouth. “What about the men you brought me?”

“They would not have come if they did not believe in you.”

"And you?" He asked, his golden gaze shifting to her from the fire. 

She smiled up at him. "How could I question such a strong, confident and desirable man?" She asked and leaned in to kiss him.

He gave her a weak kiss back and paused before growling and turning from the fire, his long black winter coat flaring around him and sending a couple miniblins sprawling. "These dreams," he growled, "In these dreams I rule the  _ world _ . Everyone who comes for me falls to my power, but it is not complete. Thousands of slaves look for something as I command, something to complete my power, but I am dead before it is found. What else could it mean? That here on the precipice of declaring ourselves a kingdom, where Hyrule has known no truly powerful king in centuries, what else could these dreams mean other than someone is plotting my death or planning an invasion?"

They'd been over this a dozen times now. Naburoo pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes crossing in frustration that was becoming familiar. "Who outside of here would want to invade the Outlands, Griffin? There's a reason this hell hole is used for exile."

"Are you calling me a fool for wanting to rule it then?" He asked, turning just his head so that she saw his golden eyes flash. He was in a dangerous mood, so she did not touch her face to her hand as she wished to.

"My Lord," she purred and sauntered forward making sure he noticed her hips, "This is but a stepping stone for you, conquering a land that has yet to be conquered," she moved behind him and reached up to remove his cloak. "Taking control of that which others used for punishment and making it kneel before you... I would never think you a fool for that, because I know it is only the beginning, the springboard to the return of the True King of Hyrule."

With his cloak off, she reached up and began rubbing his shoulders. "King Griffin," she purred in his ear, "Don't you love the sound of it?"

His eyes half-closed in pleasure. Naburoo was his most loyal subject. She had followed him into exile because she believed in what he was doing. That and her bed was warm and inviting. So he would tell her, because it would make her jealous, and he would watch her squirm a bit before taking her and reaffirming her loyalty. "There is a girl," he said softly, eyes half closed under her touch. "Hair like sunlight, eyes like the dawn. In my dreams I want her, I want to possess every fiber of her being. She calls out to me..."

Behind him Naburoo fuzzed like a wet cat, and Griffin chuckled. "But I cannot touch her. There is a light that wields a powerful sword, and keeps her from me. She is my end, my death in the dream, she and her sword wielding light."

Naburoo sneered. "I swear I will destroy any witch with sunlight hair if she comes within three hundred yards of you, milord," she growled. "Light sword or no."

Chuckling louder, Griffin turned and wrapped Naburoo in his arms before cupping her cheek in his large hand. He watched her melt and knew that she would follow him until death. "Help me forget her," he said and leaned down to kiss the woman in his arms, his desire growing hard between them as he thought of nothing but the yellow haired angel of death from his dreams.


	6. Fear's Icy Grip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6 - It has begun!
> 
> WARNINGS: Possibly Teen+ - Contains suggestive themes. Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

Well, it was official, Link despised the North. 

Not the North- _ ish _ , where Volga was from. No, that had been lovely with a few inches of snow, and green pines surrounding the roads and buildings, were warm fires and pumpkin soup chased away the chill. Snowpeak had been beautiful, and the night they’d stayed to rest on the journey had been spent under a pile of warm furs with a beautiful princess cuddled to him for warmth. Really he would always think fondly of his time there for that alone.

This however, The Outlands and their ice covered rocks, where no trees grew and the wind was made of frozen daggers was some kind of hell.

Of all their travelling companions, Volga and Epona seemed to mind it the least. Volga, his nature as a warlock-knight, seemed to have the internal furnace his alternate form of the dragon wore on the outside. The sideways snow melted before it hit him, puffs of steam radiating from the warmth of his armor. His horse was far less pleased, but seemed warm where her rider touched. Epona, Link’s faithful horse, bore both he and Zelda with determination. He could tell the harsh and extreme conditions had an effect on her, but his sweet mare refused to let it conquer her. She trudged forward, head down into the wind, refusing to give up as if she had to prove to nature itself she would not give in.

Zelda fared far less well, yet no less stubbornly. She had been shivering for hours against his back despite her fur lined cloak and heavy winter clothing. He’d asked her a dozen times if she wanted to stop for a little while to build a fire and warm up since they’d set out that morning, but she’d refused. Even Volga was keeping an eye on her, and he and Link shared concerned glances every now and then.

But their destination was in sight. The Mountain hall in which the Warlord had taken residence loomed barely visible through the snow storm ahead of them, the orange light through the windows like strange stars in the gray distance. Volga said that from here it would only be half a day’s ride if the wind let up, though it was a steep climb. Fearing them to be late due to weather, Zelda begged them to press on without harming the animals. Her own comfort seemed not in her concern.

As it stood, Volga and his magic, the ability to breath fire, cleared a path to make it far easier for the horses to make better time. Perilous and steep thought the mountain was, the three Hyrulean diplomats made it in time for the supper before the next day’s Summit. 

To Link’s irritation, but not his surprise, there wasn’t much of a welcome - it seemed all horses were being kept in the foyer outside of the main hall but out of the blizzard… but being groomed and watched over by moblins. He detested them so much… They were also lead by a bobkin with a non-verbal grunt to the main hall, set with table and a feast of boar, berries, and other winter vegetables where the other diplomats were already gathered.

Filled with orange red light from the many fireplaces around the room, the hall was echoic with the clamour of conversation. There were many folk gather - the blue-skinned and scale Zora of the Western lands, who favored the old merfolk of lore, to the tanned and elegant Rito of the east with their long, straight hair on men and women alike ranging from black to brown and shock white who were believed to be descended of the birds of the Goddess, or so the legends said. It seemed they were not the last to arrive, as there was not a Goron in sight, but at the far end of the table, and from whence the most of the noise came, were the Gerudans who had passed through Hyrule Castle. 

Zelda was wrapped in her cloak under his arm. Link rubbed her shoulders to try and get the blood flowing to warm her, and a few of the Diplomats nodded to them as they entered. Link nodded back, but found his eyes drawn down to the far end of the room. At first he wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but when he met eyes with one man in particular, he knew - and knew they were no longer safe. Pushing Zelda slightly behind him, he ignored her protest and motioned to Volga without taking his eyes away from the Gerudan Warlord - because it could be no one else. 

“Hero?” Volga asked quietly, looking around to make their discourse seem less suspicious.

“We can’t stay.”

“We have to,” Zelda said softly. “Or there will be war for certain.”

“There will be anyway,” Link said as she watched the warlord, who still held his gaze, stand slowly. “It’s Ganon.”

***

The moment she walked in the room with her two escorts, Griffin knew. He knew who she was, what she could become, and he felt something roiling inside him. Lust, Anger, respect, desire... hatred. At first, he wondered if she too felt it. The more dreams that plagued him, the more Griffin believed that he had once been Ganon of legend and that this divinely beautiful creature who’d just walked through his doors was the Goddess reborn. She was at least the angel who’d haunted his dreams of late. What he’d not realized was that it was the same woman who had once, long ago condemned him to this frozen hell - the Princess Zelda herself.

He stared, his old friends from Gerudo continuing to talk but he heard none of it, nor could he have described her companions. Yet burned into his memory was every detail of her existence, down to the very last thread of her clothing.

“Griff?” Baqi, his friend the representative from the Gerudo deserts said trying to get his attention. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost...”

“Not a ghost,” he said softly, “A Goddess.” Handing off his goblet, he started to take a step forward, but her guard, who looked no more than a boy, wearing his green tunic and cloak against the cold with sword and board on his back, caught eyes with him and Griffin stopped. There was something about that icy blue stare...

Whatever it was, both their attentions were drawn when a shrill greeting of happiness broke the moment. Princess Ruto of the Zora kingdom squealed and greeted the Princess-goddess, who he assumed was the Diplomat from that region. The Guard followed as the mermaid swept the angel off, and Griffin felt his fist clench. He  _ would  _ speak with her later. They were all on his time now.

***

“Princess Ruto,” Zelda said warmly with a respectful nod, relieved to have the strange tingling between her shoulders lifted by the Zoran girl’s welcome. “It has been quite some time. We were only what, six summers? Seven? When last we met?” Zelda fought the urge to grab Link’s hand at her uneasiness, but Ruto truly was a blessed and welcome distraction. She was not like the Ruto with whom Zelda and Link had spent time recently - no Ruto from the Era of the Hero of Time was safely where she belonged. This Ruto, from the Western Oceanic Kingdom, was covered in beautiful blue and coral scales, the fins atop her head giving the illusion of hair as they fell to her shoulders, and he eyes were the most lovely shade of green that lit up when she was smiling as she was now.

“Something like that, yes,” the blue skinned Zora said happily. “I hate to do this, but could you please come to the side of that tub? We’ve been freezing and without salt water for too long and I don’t feel well. I want to catch up!” As the Zoran princess didn’t wait for an answer, tucking Zelda’s arm in hers and tugging her towards a large wooden tub near one of the fireplaces and away from the Gerudan Warlord. Zelda reached back and grabbed for Link without looking, hooking fingers in his belt rather than getting his tunic to pull him along.

Glancing back, she noticed her Hero blush despite his eyes never leaving the opposite end of the room. She too had seen him and knew. She felt the Triforce in her possession thrum faintly even from this distance. If she knew, and Link knew, Griffin no doubt had to know, whether he understood it or not. 

Ruto slipped into the tub with a grateful sigh, but kept her grip on Zelda’s hand. “So, how have you been? What’s the news from Hyrule Castle? Tell me everything!”

Zelda thanked a serf who brought she and her companions chairs. “Princess Ruto, allow me to introduce the Hero of Hyrule, Link, and our dear ally Baron Volga, the Dragonknight,” she said. She had told Ruto about dreams of a boy named Link when she was young, but she was hoping Ruto didn’t remember.

Ruto blinked, but she didn’t otherwise indicate whether or not she remembered the childhood incident. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. I hope your journey wasn’t too difficult. Ours was an absolute  _ misery _ I tell you! We got lost in that  _ dreadful _ storm and wound up miles from where we were supposed to be. It was simply  _ awful _ . I just wanted to die. And then we almost did! We’d been out of the water so long all our gills were getting dry despite wetting them with melted snow-water. Oh, heavens, I don’t even like to  _ think _ about it.”

“We were also lambasted by the storm-” Volga started, but Ruto was eager to interject.

“Oh, it  _ was _ ! It  _ was _ ! Oh, you poor dears. Have you eaten? Griffin said to make ourselves at home.”

“You’re... on a first name basis with him?” Zelda asked quietly in disbelief.

Ruto blinked again. “Well what would you have me call him, dear?”

Zelda shrugged. “Lord Griffin? Warlord Griffin?”

“Oh please,” Ruto said waving a dismissive hand where she leaned over the edge of the tub, “Warlord is so gauche. It’s the name the nasty little goblin-kin gave him. And he’s not  _ my _ Lord, nor is he yet a king or a prince or a baron or anything of the like, and well there’s not much to be even a Mayor of here, is there, dear?”

“I suppose not,” Zelda sighed. 

“Well what are  _ you _ going to call him?” she asked.

“I don’t know, Ruto. Sir maybe?”

“Well you’d better decide,” Ruto said nodding behind the three friends.”Because he’s coming this way.” With that she sank beneath the warm water and the surface moved where she swam around. The wooden tub really was huge, almost like a man made pool.

Zelda turned to look just as Griffin stepped around Link’s chair and took her hand with a smile. “Charmed, my lady,” he purred in a thick southern accent. Surprised and upset that she’d not felt him coming, she was confused that the Triforce was not thrumming more powerfully and Zelda knew her face paled quite a bit in spite of herself. There was no denying the feeling of Darkness’s spirit… albeit a bit weak. Nor was there denying those sharp, gold eyes. It was Ganondorf reborn… but he didn’t seem to yet fully be aware of that.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Warlord Griffin and your host. But then, I assume you would recall such, your highness?”

The way he stood over her impeded her ability to stand and feel less… trapped. She maintained her cool and collected demeanor giving him a nod. “I do, Warlord Griffin,” she said choosing the name he’d introduced himself by. She did not need to tip her hand if there was still room for them to escape this and prepare for what was coming. “I see you have made quite the stronghold for yourself.”

“One does what one must in the Outlands,” he rumbled, and the way his eyes traced over her left Zelda feeling in need of a bath. His lust radiated from him clear as the fire’s warmth around them. Her mind raced like a rabbit from the wolf looking for any excuse to duck away from him.

“Sir, if I might introduce my companions,” she said ducking up and around Griffin to Link’s side - Link who was glaring and fuming and not at all even trying to hide it. Taking his hand and hiding it between them so it was not seen, she smiled, trying to lend him some of her composure. “May I introduce Link, Knight of the Realm and Captain of my personal guard.” No reason to mention the Hero and risk awakening Griffin more than he might already be. “And you have met the Baron Volga of Snowpeak.”

She thought she saw his lip twitch in the beginning of a scowl when Griffin looked over Link, but could not be sure as he turned and gave Volga a slightly tighter grin, taking the Dragonknight’s hand instead and shaking it politely. “A pleasure. I know the journey was hard on everyone, and you are all my honored guests. Please, make yourself at home and should you need anything, do not hesitate to ask.”

He was enormous, standing hadn’t helped the intimidation factor the reincarnation of Ganon had achieved. His fiery red hair fell in dreadlocks adorned with golden trinkets around his shoulders not unlike a lion’s mane - similar to the Ganondorf they’d fought recently, but remarkably different. His neatly trimmed beard was groomed and completed the mane appearance around his dark and in places scarred skin. 

His hands came up rapidly and clapped, causing Zelda to startle and Link to twitch and reach for his sword, but the Warlord's booming laughter accompanied his words, “Minstrels! A song!” His eyes returned to rest on her, and Zelda forced herself to relax… since Link wasn’t and looked as if he might try and take the man’s head then and there. “Would you like to dance, your Highness?”

Zelda shook her head politely, trying to swallow the lump in her throat that was trying to get her to run from the building or at the least hide behind Link. “No we’re quite exhausted. Thank you anyway, but I think she would.” Zelda nodded politely to the Gerudan lady who’d threatened her in the throne room of Hyrule, Naburoo, who was currently leaning against an opposite wall glaring daggers in their direction.

Griffin looked and chuckled. “Ahh yes, my second in command. Well,” he said and bowed to them shortly. “Another time then.” and with that he went to pull the woman into a dance.

“Are you sure we can’t leave  _ now? _ Link asked through clenched teeth, tugged zelda behind him slightly, his eyes never leaving Griffin as the Warlord began to dance.

“He doesn’t recall everything,” Zelda said softly, hoping Volga could hear as well, not daring to raise her voice more. “We must play this out, and hope he does not ever recall.”

Link’s teeth ground together so hard, Zelda could hear it. She squeezed his hand and tried to urge him to look at her, but the Hero would not release Griffin from his eagle-eyed gaze with a dangerous growl. 

“He can’t remember anything if he’s dead.”


	7. Violated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Teen+ for this chapter. Depicts minor sexual violence and themes. This is where it gets a bit dark. You have been warned

Griffin paced his chamber. The dinner had gone well - even the Rito diplomats who hated him believed he had no designs for anything outside of The Outands. It was a wonderful base for the speech he had planned for tomorrow that he now had every faith the gathered Hyrulean idiots would buy, giving his the obfuscation he needed to continue his plans for true power. 

He should have been thrilled. 

And yet he paced restlessly. Of course the Princess’s Hero hadn’t believed a word he’d said. Hero? Royal Guard she’d called him… why did Hero keep coming to mind? Flashes of green and battles passed behind his eyes. It was happening while he was awake now - the memories, not just in dream. Had the Princess believed? She’d shown him mercy once, when her Council and her General advising for his execution, she’d felt compelled to mercy. Did she believe him now as she once had? Zelda had been unreadable all dinner, other than her delicious fear when he’d cornered her for reintroduction. Even hiding behind her hero he’d felt it, felt her fear and his lust for her… and something else. 

There was power between them. It was subtle but tantalizing and while he didn’t fully understand it, it merely proved their connection. She was the Goddess, the Goddess he sought to conquer and possess, his ultimate prize. 

But he’d not been able to speak with the Princess as he’d desired, to test the waters of her memory or if she was yet asleep to the knowledge of their past. She’d been busy battling some great wizard in the heart of Hyrule of late, as the rumors and news from others had enlightened, and it seemed the two companions refused to leave her side. Tonight he’d been unable to read her expression, she and the Dragonknight were clearly skilled in politics. Her Guardian’s mistrust and venom aside, they had certainly made a wall of themselves, her consorts, for the rest of the evening. 

Then it struck him - The Baron would have his own room, and the guards and servants were all being kept separately from their noble counterparts. Naburoo would stop him from leaving if she returned, but she was off doing her nightly rounds…

He was free for a moment and Zelda was alone.

Throwing open his chamber door and rushing through quite before he was aware he’d made the decision, he knew right where she would be - the nicest room outside of his own in the eastern wing. 

His feet barely touched the stones of the dark keep’s halls as he all but ran through the shadowed corridors, the blood rushing in his veins hot with desire - a desire for knowledge, for conquest… for other darker things…

Her door was shut as he came to a stop before it, and no sound came from within, but the warlord did not hesitate to knock. He was planning words, eloquent and ingratiating, honeyed things that he would let drip from his lips to entice her to let him in - no matter what. Much to his surprise the door was torn open excitedly, and there she stood beaming in nothing but her nightshift. It was pale blue and backlit by the fire, leaving little to the imagination despite her robe. Griffin found his breath utterly stolen at the vision of her in the doorway.

However he saw quickly, despite his fantasies, it was very clear he had not been who she expected. Her face paled, and she wrapped her robe tightly around her, moving to close the door rapidly as she said, “Warlord Griffin, it is late - you should not be here.”

One strong hand came up and halted the door, not even the full weight of her body against it could challenge him in closing it, and Griffin felt himself smile. “Who were you expecting?”

“Goodnight, sir,” she said and tried to push it closed again. It was to no avail.

“I must speak with you, Highness. I feel there has been a miscommunication - Naburoo’s words in your court and the tales that I have heard spread about me I fear have given you the wrong impression.”

She was silent a moment, and Griffin watch as she tried to appear as if she was not struggling against him, yet was. “Perhaps it can wait until the morning? The summit… I must rest.”

“I cannot sleep, thinking you might believe me a villain,” he purred, and reached out with his other hand to grip the door frame. Pushing the door open it was hard enough that Zelda was pushed back, giving him room to enter. The thrum of power between them and her palpable fear were intoxicating. The world faded around him as he strode slowly forward towards the goddess cast in the dancing light of her fireplace. She looked scared - he liked it. He wanted to taste it, to taste her…

“You need to leave,” she said, and the cold, impartial ruler he remembered from his trial returned. She was regal, unmovable… but he’d felt her fear. Her indignation made his blood boil hotter than before and now he wanted to not only taste, but rule her. Break that confident glare. 

“You have no power here, Princess,” he rumbled dangerously, but surprised her when he bent at the waist and reached out to clutch her against him. “I have been dreaming of this moment, of you. Your soul knows mine. We are tied together and cannot be unbound… I know you feel it.”

Zelda fought him, but her arms were trapped by his, and he took the opportunity to rest his face against the side of her head. “Though, I would prefer you gave in, princess, I find I am enjoying your struggle…” 

She almost broke his hold - she was strong, a warrior. But instead he used the movement to flip her around, pressing her back to his front and making his desire known though her thin sleep garments.

“You smell like divinity… do you taste the same?” With his words, he could not longer resist, letting one hand snake inside her robe and gown to caress the silky smooth skin belonging to one of her perfect breasts. At the same time his other hand wrapped around her to cup the warmth between her legs as he turned his face to run his tongue from her shoulder to behind her hear. 

But she was screaming - he wasn’t sure when she’d started, so entranced by her scent and taste, the way her delicate flesh felt under his hands... As if surfacing from a dream he’d been unaware he was having, the sight of her tears excited him again, but it was a short lived realization as a burning pain erupted between his shoulders. Griffin was a warrior, he knew when he’d been slashed with a sword.

“Let. Her. Go.”

***

Link had been waiting until the keep had gone silent. He was expected to stay with other guards and servants in a lower level of the stronghold “as a show of good faith” he’d been told after having covered Zelda’s room for secret entrances and traps top to bottom. Volga also had his own room, and had made it clear he had no intentions of sleeping, but when Link had all but been dragged away from Zelda, the look she’d given him had been enough. 

He was going back to her.

So he waited, and finally there was not a sound other than the servants and guards around him snoring or breathing softly. He’d been practicing sneaking to Zelda’s room for weeks now, and while their relationship was still chaste in its affections he found he couldn’t very well sleep without her anymore, and certainly not in the enemy’s stronghold.

Creeping from the room, stepping over and around sleeping bodies of Zora and Rito and Gorons alike, Link all but ran as soon as he was clear. He didn’t care how well practiced Griffin’s words were, or how little Zelda seemed to think the man remembered, Link knew Darkness, and if even not yet, one day that man would be Darkness. And he had been looking at Zelda like a rack of meat since they arrived. 

When he heard her scream, Link knew true fear.

It didn’t stop him, but instead spurred him forward rapidly from his sneak into a full out run. He’d brought his sword, remembering General Impa’s words from his original training; “You are only paranoid if you are proven wrong. A soldier is never paranoid to take his sword.” 

Kicking open her door, the dark figure of Griffin stood moving oddly and somewhat hunched over in Zelda’s room, Zelda nowhere to be seen… until he saw the edge of her nightgown fly up from the other side of Griffin where she was struggling. 

He was holding her. 

Trapping her.

Touching her…

Link moved before he thought, cutting a slash across Griffin’s shoulder blades. He’d been meaning to skewer the man, but at the last moment realized it would likely harm Zelda too. When he spoke, he didn’t recognize his own voice for the growling, blind rage that shook in his words. 

“Let. Her. Go.”

Griffin turned in pained surprise, and revealed that he was holding Zelda crushed to him, the warlord’s hands invasively molesting her. Zelda’s face was a mask of anguish and anger, wet with tears as she wept. 

Never in his life had Link ever known such a rage. It was white hot, like the heart of the very Sun Hylia had hung so many lifetimes ago. Not only was his Princess, the woman he’d sworn to protect, being abused by his most hated foe… but the beast of a man was hurting the woman he loved. And yet, he couldn’t kill the man where he stood, because currently his betrothed was being used as a human shield. 

“I know you boy,” Griffin growled, as if the open wound he’d been deliver affected him not at all. “You are no guard... “

As Link took a stalking step forward, sword pointed direct at the warlord’s face, Volga and princess Ruto arrived from running down the hall. They saw how Griffin gripped the Princess and Ruto cried out, Link knowing the growing heat he felt was Volga’s anger. The Summit was now ruined, and Link saw in Griffin’s eyes he knew it, before the man growled and released Zelda, shoving her at Link and using the distraction to barrel past them all out into the hallway. Without hesitation, Ruto and Volga began to give chase.

Link caught Zelda who was trying to compose herself. As he stood, she nodded, “Go. You want to-”

“No. No I will kill him - I swear it, but not until I know you are alright.”

Her face crumbled into tears again at the gentleness in his words despite the anger she could undoubtedly feel radiating from him. “I’m not. But you need to stop him now. I did this. This is my fault. Impa was right - he should have been executed…”

Link sheathed his sword and gathered her fiercely into his arms as she broke down and began to cry. “Shh, love no. What he did has  _ nothing  _ to do with you. You had mercy. He chose to be a monster. A monster I will cut down and burn everything he’s ever held dear for touching you.” 

There it was again, that white hot rage - it was very different than his bout with his own inner demons. Cia had drawn out his over confidence and fear to create the Dark Link reflections they’d fought in her sanctum. But this was different - it was white and burned, and he would extinguish the life of anyone who tried to stop him from killing Griffin without remorse or ever losing a wink of sleep.

Volga came running back, Ruto on his heels and both out of breath. “He’s gone. He literally disappeared.”

“I don’t think the Summit is necessary tomorrow,” Ruto added breathlessly. “I’ve seen all I need to see. The Western Oceanic Kingdom will be declared Warlord GRiffin enemy and guarding our borders against him. I also intend to send aid to Hyrule.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Zelda said, trying to calm the tears from her voice.

“Zelda sweetie, don’t worry about it right now. You just… Hero, you can…”

Link nodded to her, turning to look at Volga over Zelda’s head where he still held her. The Dragonknight nodded and reached out the grab the door handle. “I will not sleep tonight, Hero. Nor will I stray from in front of this door.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Link said catching Volga’s eye and nodding. Once the door was closed, Link bent to scoop Zelda up into his arms and carried her to the best. Unlike her normal, stubborn or playful self, she did not protest this time. Lying down next to her, he did not dare make any touch or caress a hair out of line for what she’d just experienced. He lay next to her, and let her choose her comfort level, but when she curled to his side, burying her face in his chest to weep, he relaxed as his heart broke and wrapped her in his arms once more.

“Shh, sweet love,” he whispered gently, rubbing her back. “What do you need? What can I do?”

She wept a moment more, no words or acknowledgement, but she didn’t move away from him. Finally, her breathing calmed and she started trying to compose herself. Looking up to him with puffy eyes, wet cheeks and a heartbroken expression, Link swore that he would let Griffin suffer one minute more for every tear she’d shed. 

She rest her forehead to his chin, and reflexively Link bent enough to press his lips to kiss her hair. “Name it, Zelda my love, and it's yours.”

Shoulders shaking, she said finally, “I want to leave. Now.” 


	8. Snowpeak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Suggestive and descriptive adult themes, Teen+ recommended. Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

It hadn’t been easy, getting their horses and packing without trying to wake the entire castle. It seemed that few had heard Zelda’s cries, and none of Naburoo’s men or woman seemed aware anything was amiss. However to try and keep that the status quo, they’d been very quiet in moving gear and saddling Epona and Volga’s horse. It had been made a mite easier however when Ruto arrived with her servants to help them. Link had thanked her graciously, and Ruto had promised she would handle the Summit and outing Griffin’s assault, and be in touch soon.

The trip there he’d been cold but focused with Zelda at his back and irritated that they were having to make the trip frozen head to toe. Now though, Zelda was in his lap across the saddle as Epona seemed more than happy to find the highest speed she could manage to escape the moblins, despite the steep mountainside pass - And Link was warm. Hot even, still so filled with rage as he was. He was confident he’d be furious enough to keep himself and Zelda warm enough all the way home to Hyrule Castle, and they were only headed to Volga’s keep in Snowpeak.

The ride was easier this go, despite the dead of night - the wind was bitter, but it was no longer storming. Volga and Link pressed their horses on, even after the sun began to rise. Zelda was quiet the entire ride. Link had so hoped she would sleep, but the tension in her body coupled with stolen glances assured him she did not sleep a wink the entire ride. When they stopped to rest the horses, she sat bundled by the small fire, saying little to nothing, and while keeping close to him, something had changed. She was distant, silent and seemed… fragile somehow. It was unlike her, and Link was very, very worried. 

When grooming Epona to prepare her to set out again, Volga came up and rest a hand on Link’s shoulder. The Hero jumped a little, having known the Dragonknight approached, but not having expected the contact. 

“Forgive me,” Volga said softly. “I merely wished to see how your mind fares.”

“I’m worried about her,” Link said stealing a subtle glance and continuing his ministrations. “I’m worried, and I’m still incensed. I’ve never taken war or death, the act of taking a life lightly. And yet all I can think about is all the tortuous and painful ways I am going to festoon Griffin’s remains from here to the sea and back.”

Volga nodded, having turned to keep an eye on Zelda. She was hunched in her cloak and under a blanket, staring at the tin travel mug in her hands. “I’ve seen it before,” he said softly. “She’s in a kind of shock. I had a cousin who was… fully dishonored by a man in her father’s stable. They sent her to stay with me for a while, to give her a change of scenery whilst they handled the trial and execution of her attacker. She didn’t speak for weeks,” he said shaking his head, an old dark pain in his voice turning Link’s head. “She would never stray far from me, her sense of safety having been shattered. However, neither would she accept comfort. She could not stand to be touched.”

“What happened to her?” Link asked softly.

“She returned to her father to discover the Lord who’d disgraced her and ruined her life had been set free when his father paid off the court. She committed suicide a few days later.” Volga’s teeth ground together, ad the air around him warmed. “When Cia first approached me and gave me the power of Darkness, the first thing I did was kill him, his father and burn their entire village to the ground.”

Link stared at his friend in slight surprise, but he also couldn’t disagree. He did turn to observe Zelda a moment in fear, but Volga’s hand came back to his shoulder. “I tell you that to say this - I understand your anger and her pain. But she has you to help her. You will have to be patient, even when she seems irrationally upset, her mind is her own and not for us to know. She will need to you remain sound. Honor your promises and words. Remember even when she thinks she doesn’t want you, she will need you. And I swear here and now,” he said and held out his hand to grip Link’s arm. When the Hero took it, Volga nodded, “I will give my life to aid your revenge. Griffin or Ganon, you will see his end, and I will help in any and every way I can.”

His eyes intense and grateful, Link gave Volga a serious nod. “Thank you, Volga. You are a good man.”

“No,” the Dragonknight laughed, “I’m not. But I am trying to clean my slate.”

***

When they arrived at Snowpeak it was two days later and mid morning. They were greeted by a platoon of Hyrulean soldiers lead by Impa, to Link’s surprise. Though Zelda hadn’t spoken in a few days, she perked up from where she’d refused to leave Link’s lap when riding. “Impa?” Link said voicing his surprise, coming to a stop in the stone courtyard. Impa reached up to help Zelda down and pulled her into a hug. “If you’re here, who’s watching the palace?” Link asked dismounting.

“An ally,” Impa promised. “One I trust. Are you three alright?” The look Link gave her said they decidedly weren’t, but it was a long story. “I know some of it. Princess Ruto was able to work with the Rito sage and send a missive from the summit. It seems Griffin, the Naburoo woman and their loyals have disappeared.” She continued to look at Link intensely as she held Zelda, and Link understood the unspoken question, giving her a nod.

Griffin was Ganon. 

Once they were inside and the horses tended, Link paced outside of Zelda’s room, waiting for Impa to resurface, hoping for news that Zelda had spoke, or requested him… something that was a positive change. He’d not bathed or tended himself, which he might should have, but his mind was spinning around whether or not she was alright. 

When Impa did appear, the Hero rushed to meet her. “How is she? Did she say anything?”

Impa’s expression was sympathetic, but she shook her head. “Only that she asked to be alone.” He felt his shoulders fall, his worry compounded that his sweet, injured Zelda wouldn’t even speak to Impa.   
The General rest a hand on Link’s shoulder. “Give her a little time, Link. Volga said she would not be away from you on the journey. I’m sure she just needs a little space to realign her mind.”

There was a lump in his throat of worry, and a fire in his chest of rage. Giving Impa a curt nod, he looked around helplessly a moment before turning on his heel. “I need to go break something. 

The inside courtyard, while covered in a thin layer of snow for the open sky above, had plenty of sturdy training equipment. Volga had said to make himself at home, and so Link did. He spent hours practicing, beating slicing and cutting the stone and wood pillars and dummies. It did little to ease his worry and rage, but it did wonders for depleting him of the energy that fueled those emotions. 

By the time Link finally sheathed his sword, it was full dark and he was tired and sore. He’d shed many layers despite the cold, and gathered his things he turned to head to the room Volga had given him. He’d been given this room, as it was next to Zelda’s and shared a conjoining door, that stood closed as a grim reminder his betrothed was suffering and there was nothing he could do. 

Gritting his teeth, he dropped his clothes and took the towel that had been left for him, his sword and nothing else as he headed for the bath. He was at least too tired to feel the need to go break anything more, but the sinking feeling in his stomach had returned. He hated feeling useless, and being unable to be with her, to hold and comfort her…

Opening the bath door, steam rolled out. It seemed that Snowpeak was built atop a hot spring, that had been utilized for a few purposes, but a nice, warm bath year round was one of them. Stripping his undertunic, boots and everything else, Link crossed the warm stones and descended the steps down into the water. Resting his sword on the edge, he sank into the water, the spring warmed stones and hot water instantly easing the ache of their days of riding and his self inflicted distraction techniques. It did nothing for the ache in his chest, but he certainly began to feel relaxed. The exhaustion had begun to creep in as well, and before he knew it, The Hero was dozing. 

In his dreams, the warm water was from a sunlit lake in which he swam with Zelda, where she was smiling and splashing him, and being the bubbly, smiling ray of light she so often was, and always deserved to be. He was so tired, the dream was vivid and enthralling. Her voice sounded so real…

...Real enough that it startled him awake when he realized it was more real than anything else. 

When he came to it was with a flail, and he inhaled some water, sending him into a choking fit. This did serve to wake him up, but also confirm that he’d not dreamed her voice. “Link!” she wailed and suddenly there were hands grabbing his wrist and pulling him back to the edge of the pool and above the water. 

Wiping his face and catching his breath, he blinked up to find her worried face looking down on him. “Zelda?” he asked softly. “What’s wrong?”

She was in her robe, and kneeling by the edge. Sliding to sit on her hip she sighed in relief that he was alright, “Nothing. I wished to bathe and found you on your way to drowning, sleepyhead.”

The nickname caused his heart to pang painfully - he remembered it. Not much from their life in the clouds was clear, but it touched his very soul. Remembering Volga’s words of distance, and patience, he rest his elbows on the stone at the edge of the pool and forced himself not to move closer to her. “Well thank you,” he said trying for his normal smirk. “What ever would I do if I didn’t have you to make sure I didn’t drown in my sleep?”

“You’re impossible,” she said softly. She looked exhausted, but he thought he caught the barest hint of a smile on her lips.

But the silence grew, only the gentle sloshing of water on stone breaking the quiet as he watched her and she stared unmoving at the water. Eventually, Link couldn’t bear it anymore. “Would you like me to leave?” he asked, but not unkindly.

For a moment, Link didn’t know what to do\\. Zelda didn’t respond, but there was no way she’d not heard him. She didn’t move, didn’t react… nothing. Slowly, her face turned to him, and she shook her head. “No. I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

She stood slowly, and turned to where she’d dropped her towel near his. Undoing the tie of her robe, she let it fall around her and paused. A thousand flaming thoughts went exploding through Link’s mind and had he been a wolf as Midna had known him, his fur would have been on end. Her hair was down and covered anything he might have seen, but even the glimpse of her bare legs was enough to send him into fits. This...was going to be very difficult. 

When she turned around, he nearly passed out. She was fully nude and the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on. He didn’t care what the Hyrulean standard of beauty was, Zelda was perfection, from her porcelain skin to the curve of her hips, and her elegant neck. He was trying so hard to be good, but something caught his eye as she walked closer, eyes on the ground as she made sure not to slip on the wet stone. 

There was discoloration over her left breast, and low on her belly - bruises - from where Griffin had abused her. To this point, Link had believed he was too tired to be murderous. He was wrong. Very, very wrong. He could have taken his sword, walked out into the snow nude and destroyed Griffin in one fell slash taking his head if the opportunity had presented itself. 

Snapped out of his reverie as she sank down into the pool next to him, Link ached to reach out and take her in his arms. He ached for other reasons, but seeing her skin bruised like that, his other reasons were very much secondary. After a moment of silence in which he watched her relax into the warmth of the bath, Link thought he might explode from the tension coursing through him. Every fiber of his being was thrumming that had nothing to do with the Triforce he possessed. 

-

Zelda had closed her eyes, but Link was so still, she popped one eye open to look at him. He sat there, on the submerged stone bench, trembling with tension and watching her intently. The pang in her chest was immediate, and she was self conscious. Pulling her knees up to her chest, hair floating about her, she had to look away. “Is it that bad?” she asked softly, her tone thick with growing emotion.

Silence. 

“What?” he responded finally. 

“The bruises. Are they so… hideous that I am not presently desirable to you?”

She had to turn and look at him, for the noise he made was somewhere between a wail, a sneeze, a hiccup and a groan - like he was choking on his own tongue and trying not to. His eyes were wide and Link looked pale as a sheet as if she’d just asked him to drown a kitten. 

“NO!” he said coming forward a little bit in the water, but stopping short of touching her. “No.. I just… what he did… Volga had a cousin, and she didn’t want to be touched after… that. And Volga and Impa said be patient, and you wanted to be alone… I…”

Realizing that perhaps he was not disgusted by her damaged appearance, but instead completely at a loss and being sweetly awkward, she reached out a hand and rest it on his chest. She watched as he instantly relaxed. His hand came up to cover hers with a shudder. “Link,” she said softly, hating that tears were again threatening her eyes. She felt as if she’d been crying and weak for days. It was unlike her. “I would like for you to hold me. If that’s alright.”

This time he did whimper, but she was then in his arms, her Hero peppering kisses over her damp hair and all was better with the world. His skin was warm against hers, and the thrill of being bare with him was enough to erase her upsets, though she wasn’t sure how long it would last. 

His hands ran up and down her back, and she found it sweet the he was trying so hard to keep his desire from her, holding her close while turning his lap away. Zelda smiled against his shoulder where he held her, her arms coming around him and running over his skin under the water. 

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he rumbled against her ear, and she heard the deep tone of desire in his voice. In that moment, Zelda made a decision in which she found true peace.

“You’re sharing my bed tonight,” she said softly. He tensed but his fingers still ran through her hair and caressed her back at the same time. 

“That… may not be the best idea just now,” he purred, though he made no effort to move. “I don’t know as I can be a gentleman tonight.”

Pulling her head up from his shoulder enough to meet his eyes, her heart thrilled at the look of love, lust and worry he gave her in return. It was enough to draw a real and broad smile from her for the first time in days. 

“What if I don’t want you to be?”


	9. Passion and Restraint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Teen+. Smuttysmutsmut - Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

Link looked to his hands and saw them shaking. Despite the pruning from the bath, he did not feel cold. He in fact felt flushed, head to toe like a youth who was hoping to kiss a girl for the first time. 

Zelda’s promises and words in the bath had caused him quite the magnificent flail despite her kisses to sooth him, but he’d behaved. He’d washed her hair and rubbed her shoulders, and managed to not be an animal when she’d accidentally caressed him intimately… a gesture that from her smile he now genuinely wondered if it had been an accident at all.

He’d behaved. Admirably. Saints had not the control he’d found. But her words and her smiles kept running through his mind - “What if I don’t want to you be?” What if she didn’t want him to be a gentlemen, and have her as he wanted… even before they were married. They’d talked about it, on those nights not slightly more than a week before - they were going to be proper. They were going to be chaste in their affections until their wedding night. That was how it was done - it was proper. 

But there he sat, in a towel, on her bed in Volga’s keep, watching with ravenous eyes as she dried her hair in front of the fire, entirely nude and if he had his guess, or was struck stupid to forget their day in the Outlands, he’d have said she was showing off a touch. He was trying with everything that he was to keep his towel tightly over his lap to hide his desire, regardless that it hurt to do so. 

She turned around and for the second time that evening, he saw her as the Goddess had made her, odd as that sounded being who she was. His mind was spinning with poetry for every curve and soft angle of her body, but flatlined when he realized she was walking towards him. The smile she wore helped nothing - timid, but excited and managing to be wholly seductive. 

Yup. His heart was going to stop. If not from her smile, the moment she laid one finger on him, he was sure of it.

“Zelda,” he said softly, as she reached him, stopping when her knees touched his. Hands coming up to rest at her waist, it was an effort of will to keep his eyes on hers. “What about our wedding night? I… I need you, so much,” he said and leaned forward, closing his eyes to lay a kiss just above her belly button. “There Is nothing else in this world that I want more than you, but if this is something you will regret in the morning it will kill me. I won’t… I can’t take advantage of you.”

Her fingers ran through his damp hair, combing it back from his face before she cupped his cheeks and turned his face back up to look at her. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes over a demure, and somewhat fearful smile. “I can’t sleep,” she said softly. “Every time I close my eyes, I see him… feel his hands and mouth… what he did…” She closed her eyes and her hot tears spilled down her cheeks to hit his chest. Link went from caressing her waist to standing and wrapping her in his arms, his desire and concerns erased for her pain. 

“Shh, sweet love.”

“No,” she said, her arms coming around his shoulders, “No I’ve been quiet, and I’ve thought. A lot. I need you to erase his touch. Link… please. I love you, and I want the choice. He was going to… take that. I want to choose when, where, and who. And I choses now, here, and with you. I need you… help me sleep again.” 

Her voice was desperate and Link felt his heart breaking. This was  _ not _ how they’d envisioned the first time he was going to make love to his sweet Goddess. But neither could he deny her. She’d been excited for their wedding night, and now Griffin…. No… Ganon, had taken that from her too. But the Hero had an idea. 

Bending to lift her into his arms as he had so many times before (it was easier sometimes with how damn stubborn she could be), and took her back to the bed, laying her down gently. She watched him with modest wonder, unsure of whether or not he was going to grant her wish or lay next to her chastely and beg her to sleep. 

Link was going to do neither. 

Stripping his towel, he crawled up next to her on the bed, no longer hiding the turgid and undeniable way he desired her. She fit so perfectly against him, it was everything he’d dreamed and so much more without the bother of their clothing in the way. Tucking one hand under her shoulders to lift her, Link covered her lips with his, and held her close in so doing. She moaned against his lips as if she’d nearly expected him not to, and her hands came to rest against his chest. One began to trail down, and he whimpered internally, but caught it, stopping her.

She pulled back to look at him in confused worry, but he smiled and brushed his nose to hers. “Not tonight, Princess,” he murmured. “Tonight, I worship you like the Goddess you are  _ and _ keep my word.”

Before she could voice an objection or concern, he covered her mouth with his once more, knowing he would never be able to kiss her chastely again. Her lips were too sweet and he needed to taste them.

As he did so, his free hand ran up her arm, over the soft skin of her shoulder and down to cup her breast gently. He felt her heart pounding against him, and the shiver that ran through her body when his thumb ran sweetly over the beaded tip made him smile. He did this again with fingers, lips and tongue, kissing every inch of her skin he could until her hips rolled against him helplessly, and soft pleas that were not entirely words escaped her lips. 

He moved down her body a moment, keeping eyes with hers and laid a kiss, gentle but firm, over the sweet warmth between her legs and she cried out. Stretching back up to her side, his goddess was writhing, begging him to end the torment and take her. But he’d given his word to protect her virtue until their wedding night, and so he would. 

Neither would he leave her in sweet agony. As he pulled her against him again for a kiss, one hand slipping between them. Her kisses were fierce and hungry, and when his fingers slipped inside her warmth he learned that he had underestimated the lioness within his Princess. She almost throttled him, so eager was she, but Link held her fast while managing to maintain his intentions. Fingers dancing and crafting her pleasure, his own ached. Holding her against him, and playing the sweet instrument of her desire, he could not stop it when her hand came to grip his need… and he groaned. 

Feeling her smile against his lips, it was short lived. Her climax took her by surprise, and Link discovered that she could make sweeter sounds than he’d already drawn from her. She entirely forgot her ploy and clung to him, begging him to never stop while kissing him desperately. 

Her legs wrapped around his, her arms around his neck coupled with her kisses left him short of breath, but he did not stop his caressing of her intimacy until she lay still and panting against him. 

Never in his life had he ached for her more than he did with her sated, nude body pressed to his with labored breaths. The scent of her was all around him, the sounds of her pleasure still echoing in his ears, he cherished the moment. Reaching for his towel, he cleaned up the evidence of her pleasure from them both and gathered her back against his chest, kissing her forehead. 

“Link,” she sighed, and it seemed her limbs were about as effective as soft noodles. 

“Did I fulfill your request, sweet love?” he rumbled, trying to talk his blood down from boiling. 

“No,” she said, firm as she could manage, looking up to him with the ghost of her serious look. “I wanted  _ you _ .”

Link smiled and rubbed her back taking a few slow, deep breaths as he thought about taking a jog in the snow, naked for a moment. “Zelda,” he said softly, “In the darkness of your room in the palace, you tormented me, telling me that you had plans for our wedding night. You teased me for a few  _ hours _ describing pretty little things made out of lace and saying over and over you had a plan that would be my undoing.” He reached up and stroked her pouting face, gaze soft and cheeks pink in the aftermath of the bliss he’d given her. “I’m not going to let him take that from us,” he added softly, voice rough with emotion. 

Her eyebrows raised slowly as she realized, and she leaned up to kiss him again, but this time with pure love. She settled next to him and Link went about getting them both under the blankets without letting her go. Voice soft and sweet, Zelda’s lips caressed his ear as she whispered, “Then yes, you granted my request. But I have another.”

“Oh?” he asked, trying to get comfortable and forget his aggrieved need. 

“I get to return the favor, very soon.” 

Sweet Goddess, she was absolutely going to be his end. Closing his eyes and swallowing audibly before he looked to find the picture of enthusiastic mischief he’d come to expect from such a tone in her voice, he sighed helplessly. “As you wish.”

Content with his answer for the moment, Zelda kissed his neck and settled in, asleep within moments. He was relieved by this, and to see her smile. But sleep? No, that was not for the Hero tonight. Possibly ever again.

He was dreaming of his wedding night. Link was unsure of when he’d fallen asleep, or when he’d started dreaming, but he was not surprised to find it was a dream of Zelda and the subject matter. 

However something was off… he felt, twitchy, the sensations were very visceral. Suddenly afraid he was doing something completely untoward while unrestricted in his sleep, he had to wake up. His whole being was tired, and it was hard to rouse himself to wakefulness, but he managed, for fear he was being a beast of a man.

Coming to the surface of consciousness, he went to stretch and found that parts of his body were currently restricted in odd ways. Opening his eyes and trying to kick his brain into gear, he woke to the smiling eyes of Zelda who was still distractingly nude beside him under the covers. He went to tell her good morning, but discovered that his voice was utterly lost when she moved her hand that was wrapped around his manhood. 

His eyes crossed, and she giggled, Link’s heart racing immediately. “Zel… I thought-”

“I said very soon,” she purred and he felt her teeth gently brush over the skin of his ear. “And you were clearly having dreams… so I thought it was soon enough.”

He couldn’t withstand her any longer, and the growl that rumbled from his chest was needful and possessive as he pulled her atop him and claimed her lips in a fierce kiss. Though he still kept his promise of her virtue, he let her have her way and was surprised and a little embarrassed at just how quickly he was undone to her hands and kisses. 

It was his turn to lay panting and useless as she smiled and wiped him down with a smile. Leaning down over him where she’d resume laying atop him, she squealed a giggle as his hands came up to grip her behind and press himself up against her. “I say again, woman; you will be the death of me.”

“Don’t die,” she whined with a soft smile. “I like having you around.”

“Then marry me so I don’t suffocate waiting on our wedding night to get here.”

With a nod, her golden hair spread around them both. “Done. Find me a Sage, I’ll marry you today, then bed you tonight, and we can have a big ceremony when we return to the castle, and no one will be the wiser.”

Rolling over, moving her with him and pinning her to the bed, Link searched her face with hope and amusement. “You don’t mean that. The Council-”

“Would never know. We have a noble and a military witness of the court present, and surprisingly that’s all that’s required. No one ever looks at the scrolls of legitimacy, and as long as Volga is present for the ceremony in Hyrule-”

“You are dangerous as you are wise,” he rumbled, leaning down to slowly and repeatedly kiss her neck. “What will Impa say?”

“That she doesn’t want to hear anymore when I tell her I can’t spend another night lying chastely with you in a bed.”

“I don’t think last night was very chaste…”

“It also was not what I wanted.” she lifted his face from her neck with a hand, and the seductress in angel’s clothing he’d glimpsed last night was in full glory of the morning sun as she added, “I want you to love me as I know we both want. As my husband.”

The noise Link heard sounded strangled, and at first he didn’t realize he’d made it. He held her close and kissed whatever skin he could reach. “Then what are we waiting for?”


	10. Smoke in the Distance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

Zelda’s heart was soaring as she all but ran with Link down the halls of Snowpeak Keep to find Volga, Impa, and ask where to find a Sage. They’d scrambled around to get dressed like excited children at Wintertide, and the excitement hadn’t faded.

Their secret intimacies had done precisely what she’d hoped, as she’d slept wonderfully and instead of the attack she’d endured dancing behind her closed eyes, it was Link that greeted her thoughts any moment she let her mind wander. And tonight, or… this afternoon if she was lucky, she would give everything in love, appreciation and affection to the soul hers longed for. Her Hero.

The moment they came into Volga’s study, where the servants had said he and Impa were speaking, the energy began to syphon her newly found joy. She instantly knew something was wrong. “Impa?” she asked, her pace halted, though she did not let go of Link’s hand.

Volga sat behind a small but well crafted wooden desk, Impa standing in front of the fire in the spartan, but nicely appointed study. Volga was not wearing his armor, but still dressed head to toe in reds and orange - his tunic embellished skillfully with flame motifs and gold thread. Impa was in her normal blue and silver, the on shoulder of her jumper that was usually down to free her sword arm was up and the only real added detail was a long, blue, leather coat. The Sheikah was not accustom the the cold weather.

They both looked up to Zelda’s voice to find the Princess and Link standing just inside the doorway, Impa’s face impassive. “Close the door,” she bid softly.

An invisible hand gripped Zelda’s heart as Link closed the study door, squeezing her hand. His face was set seriously, braced to endure whatever bad news was about to come, but Zelda had a far, far worse feeling she could not explain.

“What’s happened?” Link asked, his voice even and low. Her brave knight.

Volga and Impa shared a look, Volga lifting a letter from his desk and standing. Walking around to the front he offered it to them, Zelda taking it to read and holding it so link could too. However, it did not take long to determine that the letter was not for her. Despite being addressed to General Impa in the care of the Baron of Snowpeak, the letter was for Link.

The steward Impa had assigned wrote about how a villager from nearby to Hyrule Castle had shown up, bloodied and nearly dead saying they’d been attacked by a group of Gerudans, but from the North. They were lead by whom could only be assumed as Griffin, and they had laid waste to all men, women and children… save the one survivor to take the message to the Castle. Specifically the message; “Darkness comes for The Hero and his Goddess.”

Hand over her mouth, Zelda realized slowly that the village in question was the village in which Link had grown up. He was an orphan, but the village was his family. They had raised him as a community, and personally all gathered the rupees needed to purchase his gear and passage to Hyrule to become a knight. Zelda knew this as she had already sent missive to them that Link had proposed and there would be a royal wedding.

Watching his face carefully as he read the letter again, she did not let go of his hand, nor did she move. His jaw was clenched and the muscle in front of his ear was jumping. Blue eyes shining as tears began to form, he looked up to Impa, taking the letter from Zelda and crumpling it in his hand. “When?”

“Yesterday,” Impa answered flatly. She was also clearly angry on his behalf, but she was keeping her temper.

“How?”

“Magic,” Volga grumbled. “There’s no other way they could have made it so far in less time than we made it here. And I saw the man disappear before me eyes.”

“What did it look like?” Zelda asked. Volga’s eyes narrowed as if he didn’t quite understand the question, and Zelda held up a hand. “The purple fire and darkness - or black lightning. Was there any trace of it.”

“There was a red flash,” Volga nodding, now grasping her purpose. “If I’m not mistaken-”

“It was the Triforce of Power,” Impa and Zelda said in unison.

“So he can use the Triforce, but may not yet have Ganon’s full power,” Impa added.

“The Master Sword is still in place.”

“Does it _matter_ ?” Link snapped, but did not raise his voice. “He killed innocent people… _children_.” His voice cracked with the last and Zelda’s heart shattered into a thousand pieces. Children he knew, had helped raise. People, innocents and children that he loved.

“No,” Zelda said, coming to stand in front of him and rest her forehead to his. “No, it doesn’t matter. Not anymore. He has gone far enough it no longer matters if he is Ganon.”

“He is,” Link hissed through clenched teeth, but was also resting his head to hers.

“I know. But it doesn’t matter if he knows any longer. We should return to the Castle. There is much preparation to do.”

“I’m going to find him.”

She’d been afraid of that. He was angry, understandably. She was angry and she’d never met any of his kin. But tearing off alone was not the answer. Trying to think of a way to say as much without hurting him, it was Impa that spoke.

“Link,” she said gently, “If that is what you truly desire we can make it happen. However, may I point out that while I am General of the armies, and Volga has already offered to return to Hyrule Castle with us, neither of us are the Goddess’s Chosen Hero. We stand no true chance of protecting Zelda if the full might of Darkness strikes our weakened defenses at the Castle.”

“I fear this is what he wants,” Volga supplemented. “To lure you off. He’s made it very clear that Zelda is a target. Drawing you off for revenge may be his plot.”

Zelda shivered at the idea but stilled her heart best she could. Looking up to meet his eyes, she spoke just for him. “If you feel you need to, I understand and will give you everything I can to see you off and back to me safely.”

Gears turned in his mind, she could see him thinking. His gaz dropped, and he reached out to crush her against him into a hug. “No, you’re right, Impa. Volga. We are the bearers of the Triforce. The Goddess’s chosen ones. We are stronger together.”

“And if you are with me,” Zelda added, letting a bit of her own anger seep into her words as she hugged him, “Then eventually he will come, because Volga is right. If it’s me he wants, let him come. We will strike him down again.”

“And again,” Link muttered into her hair.

“In this life and beyond.”

“Forever.”

***

The ride back to Hyrule was faster than it had been there. The storms had passed and everyone had their own horse. There had been no further discussion necessary on the matter of urgency. Their wedding was going to have to wait, and while a part of Zelda was sad for that, it was entirely necessary.

It was still overcast when they reached Hyrule Castle in the middle of the next day, and they wasted no time heading inside to summon the war council. Upon reaching the throne room, Zelda’s curiosity had been peaked to see who it was that Impa trust enough to Steward the throne in their absence, and at first her eyes refused to make sense of what they were seeing.

Her pale skin was grey-ish green, a compliment to the glowing magic geometry on her black robes. But her fiery orange hair, exotic eyes and devilish smile were unmistakeable.

“Midna?!” Link declared and picked up his stride.

The Princess of Twilight stood from the throne grinning as she stepped down the dias and stood, waiting on them to reach her. Sitting into her hip, she crossed her arms over her chest and chuckled. “You were expecting…?”

Link was the first to reach her, and they embraced companionably, Midna coming over to hug Zelda next. “How is this possible?” Zelda asked in wonder, but could not hide her joy.

“It’s been what, a few weeks since you two saw me?” she asked pulling back, her eerie voice still echoed in a lovely manner. “For me, it’s been hundreds of your human years. Twili aren’t immortal, but we’re certainly more long lived than Hyruleans.”

“Wait… so Twilight…?”

“Is still there. Always has been.”

Link shook his head. “But how… are you _here_? Twilight was sealed from Hyrule.”

“You think I can’t fix one stupid mirror in 300 or more years?” she snorted, but there was a twinkle of laughter to her eyes. “Thanks, bud. Good to see you too.”

“Midna arrived and told me you two were in danger, and that Ganon had returned,” Impa explained, stepped forward.

“I was spying,” Midna shrugged. “I do that whenever the Hero and Goddess are back. Just incase they need me again. Like now. I also dreamed of Lana,” she added with a sneer. “She kept crying it was all her fault, and boohoohoo woe is her and _blech_!” Midna shuddered as if to shake something unsavory from her shoulders. “Well I certainly couldn’t have a repeat of that dream, and if Darkness was making an encore which is unusual and not supposed to happen, then I figured ‘Hey, I can be an ace in the hole!’ So, here I am.”

Despite her distaste for Lana, Zelda was smiling. After all they’d been through both recently and in previous lives, Zelda reached out to touch her friend’s arm. “I’m glad you’re here, Midna.”

The smile Midna gave was mostly in her eyes, but Link slugged her gently in the other arm. “Nice of you to join the party. Again.”

“Maybe if we all make it through this, I’ll stick around for the wedding too.”

“Wait how did you-”

“Uh, spying? Remember?”

***

Link stood on the balcony outside the room he was coming to think of as ‘their’ room. Zelda was washing up from their journey inside before the war council convened. He had stepped outside to keep his hands to himself as they were somewhat in a hurry. Also seeing her healing bruises reminded him of all the other reasons he was going to kill Griffin slowly and painfully if given the chance.

His village. His home. The closest thing Link had ever had to a family. Gone. The one survivor, a young man name Lucas who he’d helped raise, who he’d watched as a child and helped train with the hopes he could also one day be a knight, remained in the infirmary. His wounds were so severe it was taking many potions to heal him. His home burned to the ground, his beautiful Goddess, his to be wife had been violated.

Griffin would pay. Ganon would die.

Delicate hands came around his waist. He’d been so lost in thought he’d not heard her come up. But she was gentle, and resting her cheek between his shoulder blades so he’d not been startled. Her touched eased him - he was still angry, but he could turn his thoughts from loss and murder when she was consoling him.

“We’re going to have to get the Master Sword,” he said softly.

“I know.”

“If he’s not Awakened yet, he will be when that happens.”

“...I know,” she said more softly as if her mind had been running in the same circles as his.

“I’m going to end him. For good, if I can.”

“I have one condition,” Zelda whispered, turning him around in her arms to face her. “I want a piece of him. I don’t always… I can’t always help. But this time, I want to.”

The look in her eyes was one of anger, hurt, and every inch of the abuse and shame he’d inflicted on her mind. Link’s blood was hot, but he gave her a smile, hands rubbing her arms. “Damn straight,” he affirmed. “No one deserves it more than you. And if I have my way, this will be your last chance.”

It wouldn’t be, not really. They both knew that, but they could try and waylay it as long as possible. They shared a smile, and knew they were thinking the same thing. But it was time to go. The War Council was waiting.


	11. Power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Teen+ for this chapter. Depicts minor sexual violence themes and Strong language. Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

Horses atop a seaside cliff bore their riders who observed the ocean in detestation. The briny air was disgusting, stinging his eyes and leaving the taste of salt and old fish on his tongue. It didn’t help his mood that they’d ridden so far for nothing. 

The Warlord had enjoyed burning the village of the Hero to the ground. Watching those he knew that the Hero cared for scream as they died, running in fear… it had been exhilarating. He’d seen some of the men displeased at the slaughter of women and children and taken note. However he needed all the people he could right now, and had stopped in the next town to buy drinks, food and women to celebrate. It had worked for the most part, which until he summoned and gathered an army, would have to do. 

“Griffin,” Naburoo said from the horse aside his. Her red hair whipped in the wind and she looked about as happy as he felt.

“Ganon,” The Warlord corrected. The name was right. Comfortable… and he was beginning to feel the power stir within him. He’d been transporting them short distances with magic he’d never before had. It corsed through him, whispering to him in quiet moments and reminding him who he was. 

“Of course,” Naburoo sighed, eyes casting out over the corrugated sea. “Are we to proceed?”

Sighing internally, he could feel the Zora Kingdom beneath the waves… but it was too far out. There was no way for them to reach it that for out at the depth it sat. “Not yet,” he grumbled. “Not yet. My power is not such that we can take revenge on that shrew of a mermaid Princess.” Jerking the reins of his enormous black stallion, Ganon turned away from the cliff’s edge. “It will come. The Zora will flock to aid Hyrule. They will come to us, and then, we will have revenge.”

“Will you try and  _ fuck  _ her too?” Naburoo sniped, turning her horse to follow him. 

Ganon smirked. She had been so very angry, jealous and bitter since the night his Goddess had quite literally slipped through his fingers. Most men would be annoyed by her bickering and jibes, Ganon merely smirked. He relished her jealousy, and it made her a hellcat in his bed. 

“If I so choose,” he chuckled. “But I will be ruler of this land. This World. Intend to do as I please, when I please. That includes who I please.” 

Turning to look at her, she fumed from her saddle with a glare that would strike lesser men dead. Reaching out to grab the reins of her horse, she was not fast enough to snatch them away. As his men drew away from the cliffside after his lead, Gannon pulled Naburoo’s horse over to his and reached out. Wrapping his arm around her waist he pulled her from her horse despite her flailing protest and across his lap. She was spitting mad, furious, but he held her fast, chuckled as he bid her to stop fighting, which eventually she did out of realization she was not going to overpower him. 

“Who do you think will be my Queen?” he purred. He did have every intention of elevating her to such a status. She was ruthless, dedicated to him, and loyal. She would have responsibilities giving him time to do as he pleased, but she would still be rewarded for her loyalty. 

“One of your whores?”

“You, Naburoo.” His voice was enticing, and his lips brushed her neck as he spoke with the intent of seducing her. “I’ll have my lovers, you may have yours, but at the end of the night,  _ you _ , and you alone will be my Queen.”

She was still tense, but she stopped fighting entirely and sighed. “Queen of the world  _ is _ an appealing prospect.”

“There is no one else I would trust for such. You above all others have proven your loyalty. All others are merely sweet flesh for me to slake lust. You, you are the only one worthy to be my Queen.” There it was. She relaxed back against him, and Ganon smiled. She was his again - hook, line and sinker. It was almost pathetic. It had been before she learned of his advances upon the Princess Zelda. Since then she’d made it far more of a challenge, more interesting and he loved it.

She turned to sit in front of him in the saddle, taking the reins of her horse as he handed them off, slipping one hand under her cloak and gripping the softer bits of her anatomy inappropriately before shouting to the men, “We ride for Hyrule Castle!”

-

By evening they had reached the outskirts of Faron Woods. It would be another day’s ride through the woods to Hyrule field and at least a half day to the Castle from there. The Gerudan camp looked out of place amongst the green grass and trees of Faron - but it was what they had. Despite the desert colors and bright accents that were the style of his people, Ganon doubted greatly that anyone would attack them. Woe be to the fools that tried. 

The fires were dying down, the plentiful bounty that had been hunted for their dinner had left him feeling full, and after taking his pleasure of Naburoo, the warlord felt satisfied and lethargic. Staring at the fire pit in his tent, Naburoo slept peacefully, nude and nearly on top of him while Ganon let his thoughts wander. There was an itch between his shoulder blades that had begun on their approach to Faron Woods, growing the closer they drew.

The Sword of Evil’s bane.

In his first dreams, the Goddess had been protected by a form obfuscated in light, wielding a sword… it was that same sword he felt now. 

The memories were coming more easily now. Being bound on the surface beneath the blissfully ignorant humans the Goddess had sent to the sky. His release but ultimate defeat by Hylia and her Chosen Hero. Then, the soul he’d tied himself to - the original Gerudan warlord who had summoned and merged his soul with darkness. The Legacy that assured his rebirth and made him literally the man he was today. 

He remembered seducing the Usurper in Twilight, a time with Hyrule was naught but an ocean, and a few other vivid recollections. There was one however that his mind tried to summon, but every time he thought on it too hard it slipped from him. But the flashes look familiar, images that he recognized from this incarnation of Hyrule. Especially flashes of a temple, the Sacred Temple, where the Sword rest. That was vivid. He would know it when he saw it, though he had no idea how to find it.

Ganon was beginning to believe that perhaps the battles he’d heard about in the heart of the land recently were more than merely a nameless Warlock. 

Struck by inspiration, Ganon looked down to Naburoo and carefully extricated himself from her embrace, leaving her sleeping in the bed as he stood to dress. The night was cool, but after his time in the Outlands it was balmy against his skin this far south. 

Stealing out into the night, Ganon carried his sword and crept between tents and his men even sleeping out under the stars having had too much to drink. The woods were quiet, but alive with the soft sounds of nature in the evening… it was obnoxious. He far preferred the silence of the Desert, or the whistle of the frozen Outlands wind. And yet, he took one step beyond the tree line, the woods began to fall to a hush. The Lands of the Goddess recognized danger when it approached - triggering a smile from the warlord. 

He trekked, unimpeded and quietly through the mossy underbrush, following the growing itch between his shoulder blades. It felt for a time that he was wandering aimlessly, but with a bit of trial and error, eventually he found what seemed to be the right direction. 

Through the trees, the temple was revealed in moonlit splendor. The white stones, covered in vines and moss seemed to almost glow in the moonlight. Despite the ruination of the temple, he could see that it had been traversed fairly recently. Not within the last few days, but the boot prints of many soldiers had not yet faded entirely even with the recent storms. It seemed likely that the battle in the heart of Hyrule had included these grounds. 

The magical itch here was now enough to be uncomfortable, and Ganon imagined the closer he got, the worse it would be - yet there was something else. He was compelled to continue. Whispers in his mind said there was something here, something he needed to see… to know. His feet moved on, over the flagstones and grass. Nature had reclaimed this place, despite the evidence of recent disturbance, and it somehow made him uncomfortable beyond the magical irritations. It was peaceful, serene… holy. The static opposite of the way his heart desired the world to be. 

He never stopped to question why it was he craved darkness, chaos, perversion of purity - they were all lies. There was nothing in this forsaken world that was not an illusion. Justice, Mercy, Duty - all lies constructed by humans to warm themselves at night against the growing darkness and unavoidable chaos, the inevitable entropy of decay and destruction - Survival, Selfishness, Power - those were real. Those were woven into the very fabric of every man, woman, human, Goron, Zora, Rito, beast and plant under the Goddess’s absent eye. Power was the only constant. Those with it thrived and rose to the top. Those without were crushed underfoot. Be it the deer tracked, chased and killed by the more powerful wolf, to the goblinkin he enslaved, Power was the key to life. IT was more honest, more  _ real. _

He who holds the Power has all.

With Power he would rule Hyrule, and gain the praise and fear he longed for and deserved. He was smarter, faster, a better hunter than the rest of his tribe, and his tribe was the best in the land. He was clever, cunning and charming - he could talk his way into and out of anything and everything he desired. He was smart, strategic, observant… He could not be denied his desires. That was only this lifetime. He was the nightmare parents comforted their children over, the eyes in the darkness that everyone feared. A Legend that was destined to rule the lands where none could stand in his way or thwart his rise to power.

And yet he had been stopped. Time and Time again. 

The image of The Goddess in his mind, was a girl, hair like sunlight with ribbons and the smile of an angel. He’d not been entirely himself then… he’d bee two people. Souls. Entities? The recollections were vague, but he had loved her. He had hated her, and her fallen Hero when the sky and the land were two different worlds. That had been the beginning. He was denied his love. He was denied his right to destroy and his freedom at their hands, and he had lived to see them elevated on high…

Though it was millennia ago now, the knowledge, and recollection still enraged him. Fists clenched at his sides, Ganon realized that he’d been walking whilst in thought. Now he stood inside the ruined temple and adjacent to a set of large, closed stone doors. Jarred from his reflections, a single inspiration struck him like a bolt of lightning leaving him dumbstruck a moment. 

The sword was just beyond this door. 

As was a part of his very soul.

Both thrummed through his blood, the presence of the instrument of the Goddess causing every fiber of his existence to itch and burn. He was coming to understand that his current state was an almost larval form of his glorious power - so the whispers said. Being this close to the Sword of Evil’s Bane was more than uncomfortable. He was not yet powerful enough to withstand its presence. But he also felt that power trapped beneath it. He didn’t have to open the door to see - The sword would be point downward in a stone, under which a magically trapped piece of himself lay bound.

Raising a hand up to rest on the cool stone, the energy emanating from within sent a thrill through his body, and so much more. On the back of his right hand that lay against the stone sigil of the Goddess carved into the door, the shape of the Triforce illuminated magically. The top Triforce of the three shone more brightly than the rest… the Triforce of power. 

It was his. He possessed it… and now, he could wield it. 

As if a curtain had been parted or drawn back, Ganon, for that was who he truly was without any doubt in his mind, knew how to use the Triforce within his possession. Taking three steps back, he held up the hand on which the Triforce was alight, and forced his concentration on the door. Magic wards of a different but also old magic not of the Triforce resisted him, attempted to keep him shut out. It merely served to inspire a greater determination in him.

Fist clenched once more, Ganon’s body shook with tension and the force of will he was exerting over the magic resisting him. Sweat beaded on his forehead, teeth ground together and a roar bubbling up to tear from from his throat as finally the magic buckled and shattered. 

Before him the doors swung open slowly. There it was, the Master Sword, polished and perfect shining in the moonlight. Driven into a marble stone, the inscription was clear as the day it had been made.

_ “He who wields Power without Wisdom, cannot possess Courage.” _

A quaint nursery rhyme, and empty comfort to the fools of Hyrule he was certain. And trapped beneath it, he felt true power - the rest of his soul. 

Striding forward confidently, he knew he’d not be able to wield the sword, but he could take it where the little boy could never find it, and would be helpless against him. It would also free his power to return to him, sealing the fate of Hyrule. 

Reaching out he went to grip the handle and was shocked, quite literally, with a jolt of energy so powerful his heart skipped several beats as he flew backwards through the air and onto the stone floor. 

Goblin shit.

He’d expected, even known that wielding the damnable thing was off the table, but not even being able to  _ touch it? _ Forsaken whore of a Goddess. He’d hold her down and make her scream for this. Trapping a man’s soul for centuries… she was no better than her professed detestation for his destruction of lifetimes passed. 

“And what precisely did you think would happen?” 


	12. Wisdom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Teen+ for this chapter. Depicts minor sexual violence themes and Strong language. Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

“And what precisely did you think would happen?” A voice came from the open door. Naburoo stood there, arms crossed and smirking at him where he yet sprawled in shock and rage on the stones.

“Insolent bitch,” he growled, getting to his feet. “You _dare_ speak to me in that manner?” He raised his hands and stalked towards her with every intention of striking her, but Naburoo kept her head high, raising an eyebrow defiantly.

“You’re never going to defeat them if you don’t _think_ , my lord.”

He halted his pace, livid, but finding something in her words to ring true. “Explain.”

“You were mumbling aloud. You knew you could not wield the sword, yet you went to take it. Just exactly how did you think taking it and wielding it were any different?” He sneered, anger boiling, but she had a point.

“And what would you suggest, witch?”

“To follow through with your plan to ride for Hyrule Castle. With one Minor adjustment.” She held up a finger to indicate her meaning, and began to pace in front of him. “Our discussion of lovers made me think the other night - You promise me Queen. But there is still a government to overthrow, a war to fight, and we may not yet survive. At least my own survival is not guaranteed. I started trying to think of ways that it could be.”

“Get to the point, woman,” he ground out.

“What if there didn’t have to be a war?” she stopped and looked him dead in the eye. “What if... you were crown the King of Hyrule the day after we arrived?” Interest piqued, Ganon took a step closer to her as his curiosity began to outweigh his anger.

“And how, my ear, would we go about that?”

“Marry the Princess you so desire, of course.”

Head thrown back, his long, dreadlocked hair jingled with the trinkets dancing under the force with which his shoulder shook. “Now I know you are mad!”

“Am I?” Naburoo asked, smile like a snake charming the mouse. “What if she had no choice?” He his laughter died abruptly and she again had his attention, Naburoo moved past him into the chamber, staring at the Sacred Sword. “You need this removed to regain your full power. Yet we cannot remove it.” To prove her point, she grabbed the hilt - a far cry from his failure - but illustrated the complete immobility of the object.

“The Hero must remove it.”

“So the Hero shall,” she grinned, returning her gaze to him. “We ride to Hyrule. We gain audience - She will not turn us away if we ride under the banner of peace and disguised intentions. You tell her either she marries you, or you burn the country to the ground. Say she accepts and you are crowned king. The Hero is forced to watch his beloved rule under your thumb and abused in your bed. If he does not straight away leave for this place I would be surprised. Or,” she said, sauntering forward confidently, “The Princess denies you, and I wager we get through no more than 2 villages before the The Hero appears with the Sword. Either way, you will then be restored to full power, and there will be no one to stop you.”

The blooming admiration for her devious plan brought a smile to Ganon’s face. Reaching out, he yanked Naburoo against him and crushed her soft body to his. “And where are you in all of this?” he asked.

“By your side. Advisor. General of the army perhaps,” she grinned. “The woman who might have to share your bed while you break the Princess’s spirit and body, but will still be drawing your eye and lust when you’ve grown bored with her.”

His eyebrows raised, never had he considered Naburoo to be quite as depraved as he was… until now. “What brought this about?”

“I hate her,” she seethed genuinely, her smile gone. “I love you. I want to watch you break her, and her hero. Slowly.”

With a truly pleased and growing laughter, Ganon turned to take one last look at the Sacred Sword, before bending to throw Naburoo over his shoulder. They were done here, and he had a new lust to slake.

***

Zelda found it was difficult to hear anything Naburoo had to say over the sound of blood rushing in her ears. She stood, unarmed, with two Gerudan soldiers, a man and a woman, in the same spot she’d promised war and conquering of Hyrule.

She’d immediately been suspicious when the squire had brought the news of 3 Gerudan’s riding from the West under a banner of white. She’d known that Ganon would not be one of them as their eternal foe had never been that stupid. After his assault of her with the confirmation writ from Volga, Princess Ruto and Link as Hyrule’s Hero it had not been hard to convince the Council to rule Ganon - as he was now being called - Kill on sight.

Suspicious of the peace banner under which his minions rode, Zelda had agreed to grant them an audience for hopes of a glimpse into Ganon’s plans. She had so hoped that Naburoo and her lackeys were coming to brag, and would perhaps unwittingly give up a piece of information that would help them track down or combat Ganon more easily. The proposal they brought however wa the last thing she’d expected.

Link stared at her, his eyes the color of the sky on a summer’s day bore into her. He knew her. He knew her heart,  her mind and soul. He also knew that the treaty of which Naburoo was speaking was an opportunity… and Link knew her duty to the land.

Marriage. To Ganon.

It was suicide. It would not be the peaceful sharing of power that Naburoo’s honeyed words attempted to make it sound. It would be the empire of darkness in which she was a slave, and the slow ruin of Hyrule... rather than the rapid ruin that war with Ganon promised.

However, it would impede the decline. It would give them time, time they might not otherwise have.

Impa was furious and shaking next to her, Link’s stillness spoke of a rage beyond that of her Sheikan General. Volga stood at the base of the dais to the throne, fully armored, helm down and arms crossed, his great spear affixed to his back, and while she could not be seen, Zelda felt Midna’s invisible presence from behind the throne. No, it was not the heroes from across time they had amassed merely months before to fight Cia’s darkness and Darkness Himself, but they were strong allies who were no strangers to championing Hyrule.

She could not disappoint them. She could not let the Hyrulean people suffer. After all, despite the candied speech Naburoo had started with, it had been made clear that if Zelda did not accept this offer of marriage, that the countryside and innocents of Hyrule would pay in blood. That alone she could not endure.

Standing slowly, having realized Naburoo’s somewhat mocking bow meant that she was done with her response, Zelda looked down on her coldly. The foolish warrior woman, seduced by lies and power had no idea the nightmare and ruination she courted. Or perhaps she did - which was even worse. Despite knowing what she had to do, Zelda found no warmth or sympathy for the snake of a person in front of her.

“Tell your master I accept,” she said, letting all the ice she felt for Naburoo and the situation drip from her words. It was slight, but Zelda watched the woman’s eye twitch. Seemed that she’d been hoping for more village burning. Too bad. “I will have preparations made, and in three days time, he is to appear here, unarmed and under a banner of peace, and ready to wed.”

Naburoo’s smile would have looked more appropriate if her teeth had truly been made of broken glass or daggers. “As your majesty commands. I look forward to the bright future-”

“We’re done here,” Zelda interrupted and held out her hand. When Link provided his arm, he was so tense and furious that he may as well be made of stone. “Court dismissed. I must  make preparations.”

The moment they were out of the throne room and ensconced in her study, her three companions exploded into fits of anger and disapproval.

“You _cannot_ marry him,” Link seethed. “He will kill you and destroy Hyrule regardless of what he says. This is NOT the answer. You _can’t_ believe him!!”

“I am inclined to agree with the Hero,” Volga nodded.

“Princess this is insanity!” Impa flailed. “How can we possibly think that letting him behind our defenses will solve any of this! How do we know he’s not burning villages right this very instant?”

“He could be anywhere amassing more of an army to march now that he has a pass.”

“He is the very _heart_ of Darkness-”

“It’s suicide!”

“ _Please_ tell me there’s something I’m not seeing. This can’t be your idea of a good plan-”

A cool hand rest on Zelda’s shoulder where she faced away from them, tears streaming down her cheeks where they could not see. It was Midna’s hand, her appearance in the room silencing the others.

“You did what you had to. Will three days be enough?”

“It will have to be,” Zelda replied, her voice soft and broken with emotion. Covering Midna’s hand with hers, she squeezed it in silent thanks for her understanding before turning on the rest of the room. “Your lack of faith in my ability to assess and act in a given dangerous situation aside,” she articulated sharply, “I do have a plan.”

Link was still furious, but had the grace to look guilty as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Volga was impassive, and Impa clenched her jaw, looking away as she crossed her arms. “What’s the plan?” Link asked, the bile in his voice subsided as she stepped forward.

“We draw him here, where we can find him. We trap him, be it magically or with the belief that he has won and I am his bride while you,” she said to Link, “And Volga retrieve the Master Sword.”

“That’s two days ride from here, which means-”

“That you will leave tonight. If all goes well, there will only be a day that must be endured under this ruse.”

“A day that he will have his full power,” Link reminded, his intense blue gaze burning into hers. “A day you will be in his grasp, with his full power.”

“A day I risk myself for all the days that Hyrule’s people deserve to live in a world without Demise,” she said confidently, though her tone was soft again with emotion.

“And what if-”

“I will have Impa and Midna. We can teach Midna the magic of the Sheikah to disguise herself. Or she can remain unseen.”

“Ohh, new magic? I’m in!” Midna said chipperly.

“That won’t help if he kills you.”

“Then make sure you hurry back,” she snapped back, this time her emotions were winning. “You think I want this? That I go into this fearing nothing after all the lives and everything he has done even just in _this_ one?” Link recoiled slightly, But Zelda stepped forward. “Do you truly believe that if I thought there was another way to save countless lives, to stop another village, another home from being razed to the ground, I would choose anything other than submitting to the will of Ganon himself?!”

“Zel.. I didn’t mean-”

“Yes,” she said flatly. “You did. Because you weren’t thinking about anything but your anger. You feel like I’m letting him win, and needlessly putting myself in danger. He is not, I assure you of that, I have bought us more time than other options have presented. I have bought us an opportunity to know when and where he will be in order to strike him down, and I have saved the lives of the inhabitants of this land for long enough that hopefully they will never have to know how close to destruction they were. That is _not_ a needless risk.”

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she watched as Link’s temper flared again, but mostly in self recrimination. She was right, and he knew it.

With a shuddering deep breath, Zelda reached out and rest her hands on Link’s shoulders. “What would a battle with Darkness be, if you didn’t have to save me at least once, my love?” she asked, trying for a smile in spite of her tears. “This is my role to play. I need you to play yours once more.”

“What if I’m too late?” His voice cracked softly with his words.

“Don’t be.”

Removing her war crown, she leaned her forehead to his and let his arms come around her waist. “We have a lot to do, and not much time, nor as many strong allies as we had before.”

“What will you say about me being gone, to not tip our hand?”

“You rode off in rage when the princess accepted the proposal of another,” Impa said clearly, her own temper reined in for sake of the plan. “Volga went after you.”

“We will need disguises. At the very least for returning unnoticed,” Volga pointed out.

“I can handle that,” Impa said. “Midna, would you like to accompany me with Volga?” Quick on the draw, Midna nodded and float along behind Impa and Volga out of the study, leaving Zelda and Link together.

“I don’t like this,” Link snarled, his voice rough with emotion.

“Nor do I, love. But what choice do we really have?”


	13. Courage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No extra warnings for this Chapter.  
> WARNINGS: Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

Link rode as hard and fast as he had ever in his life pushed poor Epona. She rose to his challenge, and gave no signs of tiring or complaint despite her perspiration and labored breathing. He wasn’t sure, but it felt as though Epona knew, or at the very least understood the need for urgency. 

Volga kept up, though at a short distance. Tactically it was sound. If something jumped them on the way, they agreed Link had to keep going. They rode all day and all night across Hyrule Field and into Faron Woods, only stopping when the horses had to. As it stood, they were making good time. 

The Woods were quiet, and though there was a trail, they could not go quite as quickly as the field road allowed. Link was agitated, nervous, still very angry. He’d never been angry with Zelda, he’d parsed through those thoughts as the wind rushed by and only the sound of Epona’s hooves beating the ground filled his ears. He was angry with the situation, and murderous towards Ganon. It never got easier - not in this life or any before. The fate of Zelda to live again and again to sacrifice and put her life on the line in order to defeat Darkness chafed him beyond words. 

He wanted to end it. For good.

That he could never seem to find a way fueled his anger even more. Times he recalled having the discussion that an end would mean that the cycle would be broken, and he may never get a chance at a real life with Zelda never phased him - she was the Goddess reborn. They were destined to be together. He had faith that whatever the end was when it came, they would be together.

If only it could be without Ganon. Without Darkness, or Demise, or whatever the demon wanted to call himself this time.

They reached the Sacred Grounds by mid morning the next day - having shaved half a day’s ride from the journey with their breakneck pace. However the moment he stepped foot off Epona, Link knew something was wrong.

Holding up a hand for Volga to stop, he crept forward silently, keeping a keen eye out around them. The first wave of moblins that came seemed to have only been on a kind of patrol, but during Link and Volga’s fighting with them, enough noise was made that it served to summon more. 

The Sacred grounds were crawling with goblinkin of the North, and it did not take a Sage or Scholar to figure out that Ganon had anticipated this, their journey to reclaim the Master Sword. As Link fought, it was with every ounce of anger he had ever felt. They’d not slept the night before, but neither Hero nor Dragonknight seemed hampered in the least - their mission was dire, now more so than before. 

Cutting a path across the ruins, Link could see the entrance to the temple, but knew it would take longer than his stamina might hold to carve a path through the sea of monsters attacking them. It seemed Ganon’s plan was either to have Link succeed and reclaim the sword, releasing the last of the Demon King’s power, or die trying. 

Just as he was running out of options for a plan B, the Hero felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as a blue flash streaked through the air in front of him. “Proxi?” he managed, thinking perhaps it was merely another rare blue fairy, as Proxi had left with Lana to her Sanctum. But the question was answered when 50 or more bobkins were rather suddenly encased in what for all the world looked like a magical glass box, killing them all when it shattered. 

From overhead, in the center of the now cleared path landed a familiar figure with blue hair. Lana stood, her book clutched to her side, and turned to nod at Link and Volga. Her normal chipper demeanor was missing and she wore the white robes of the Guardian of time, but she was a welcome aid to the battle. 

With Lana’s help, Link and Volga’s spirits were emboldened, and soon enough the majority of the goblinkin lay dead around them, the path to the temple entrance clear. Pausing long enough to catch his breath, Link gave Lana a small smile. “You know, I’m sure there’s some cosmic problem you’re going to have to face for this, but I have never been happier to see you than I am right now.”

Lana blushed and didn’t meet his eyes. It was no secret to anyone that Lana found feelings for the Hero. But she understood his bond to Zelda, to the Goddess she technically served, and had vowed to not interfere. Link also wasn’t going to treat her any differently than his other friends, as he considered her such. Finally looking at him with a wink, she said, “Well I couldn’t leave you guys to clean up  _ my _ mess now, could I?”

Link gave her a nod and bemused smile and took off, jogging for the temple. Volga however came up behind Lana and rest a hand on her shoulder. “It is good to see you, and not merely in dreams this time.”

She smiled, warmed by his affection and covered her hand in his. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to invade your dreams - I had the stray thought that maybe you could help… and then there you were.”

“Do not apologize,” he assured her kindly, “I am glad you did.”

-

Inside, Link ran full force to the back of the temple where he knew the Sword rest. It seemed none of the goblinkin could make it past the doors - that was something. The last time he’d battled here they had been able to enter under Cia’s magic and it had been a mess.

What was there brought him to a sliding halt and twisted something in his gut, however.  The doors to the Sacred Grove were open, Sheikah magic that Zelda had cast to ward them broken, and even the doors themselves seemed cracked in new places. 

Not only had Ganon anticipated they would come here, but he had been here. 

A cold hand gripped his heart as Link considered this all might have been in Ganon’s plan, and now he was two days from Zelda where Ganon was likely less than one. Moving forward cautiously, he was surprised to find there were no traps, magical or mundane set in the doorway or the grass covered grove - but then why would there be. This was clearly what the Demon King wanted.

Reaching forward, he gripped the hilt of the Master Sword and felt a touch of relief. Like the embrace of an old friend, The Master Sword slipped easily from the stone in his grip, and he held it skyward, feeling the magic course back into it. “Hey, Fi,” he whispered reverently, knowing that somewhere at the core of the steel and divine metals from which it was forged, lay the soul of his once very dear companion. “I know it’s been shorter time than usual between seeing me,” he said, resting the flat of the blade against the other hand, “But I need your help again. Think that will be okay?”

There was of course no response, but the blade sparkled in the noonday light, and he felt it was her way of accepting. “Thanks, Fi,” he added with the last, and sheathed the sword on his back, tucking his other into his belt before turning around. Volga and Lana stood in the doorway, Lana’s hands clutched over her book at her chest, and Volga smirking.

“He knows we’re coming,” Link said striding forward. “He was here. We have to hurry - Zelda is in danger.”

“I can help with that,” Lana said with a nod. “Get the horses and meet me by the Goddess shrine on the east wall.” With that, she turned sharply and darted off. 

Volga and Link fetched their horses and did as Lana had asked, coming up the shrine to find Lana’s book floating in the air above her as she cast a spell… and opened a gate. Turning to face them with a sad smile. “I can only get you to the other side of Faron Woods, so you’ll still have a part day’s ride… but I don’t have the Triforce to extend past it.”

“Are you coming with us?” Volga asked, stepping forward.

“I’ll be around,” Lana nodded, face sincere. “You may not see me, but I’ll be helping.”

Link stepped up to the portal, tall as they very wall, and mounted Epona. Looking down with a grateful smirk, he nodded. “Thank you, Lana. I hope we meet again under better circumstances.”

Lana gave him a sad smile, and something told him they probably wouldn’t, since she wasn’t supposed to intervene, but he meant it. “Go,” she said with a tearful smile. “Beat him to our Goddess, yeah?” She didn’t have to tell him twice. Link nodded and urged Epona forward through the portal. With a turn of the stomach and a brief fall later, Epona was running full speed across Hyrule field once more. 

-

On the other side of the portal, Volga turned to look Lana over as she longing watch Link gallop away. “You know, no one blames you.” She turned and looked up to him, her damp eyes now holding the smile on her lips. 

“That’s kind, but it’s my fault.”

“Ganon is tricky, powerful, seductive… and it was not you. It was the weak part of you that is gone now.”

She shook her head and looked back after Link who was disappearing over the rise of a hill. “But I… she… has caused so much heartache. I was never supposed to be a part of this.”

Volga looked up as well, knowing he needed to catch up, but feeling this was important. “You cannot regret another’s actions. Only your own.”

“I love him. I regret he ever had to know that.”

“Do you love him, or the idea of him?”

Turning to look back up at him in wonder, Lana didn’t seem to understand. “What’s the difference?”

Volga smirked. “A soul that is reborn eternally when the one who loves him needs him?” Knowing Lana was immortal he looked down to the young looking sorceress. “For someone sworn to spend eternity alone, I could see where the idea might appeal.”

Realizing he’d hit the nail on the head, Lana’s eyes were brimming with tears, and the Dragonknight felt a swell of empathy, reaching out to tug her into a gentle hug despite his armor. “You know, I happen to have the ear of the incarnation of the Goddess and her Chosen Hero. Perhaps… I could find a way to come visit you occasionally.”

Lana wiped her eyes trying not to cry anymore, and gave him a weak laugh. “That you’d even want to means the world, Volga. Thank you.” Giving him a brighter smile now, she stepped back and jerked her head to the portal. “Go. Make sure he wins. And I can’t hold this thing all day…”

With one last smirk, having made up his mind, Volga nodded and mounted his horse, charging through without another word, but vowing silently to petition Hyla, Din, Nayru and Farore all for a way to make sure Lana and her second chance were not left lonely.

-

Soon enough, he caught up with Link mostly, and after hours of riding, Hyrule Castle was growing larger in the distance. 

Catching Link’s attention, he slowed his pace and convinced Link to do the same, despite the Hero’s irritation to do so. “What?” Link said, trying not to snap.

“We need to get closer, but are not yet expected back. Perhaps dawning our disguises will give us an element of surprise.”

“If Ganon is already there…” he said and started moving Epona on again, yet still looked at Volga.

“Then all the more reason for trying to gain surprise, would you not think?” Link blinked and watched his friend a moment trying to cool his head. Considering for a moment, he reached out to take the disguise from the Baron, his thought process being that Zelda would have probably agreed with Volga. He valued the wisdom of his ally, and accepted that perhaps he was not thinking quite as clearly as he should have been.

Dismounting and dawning the disguises that Impa had given them, Link felt a magical charm settle over him with the clothing and grunted in approval. Yes, this was the right option. Nodding to Volga, he remounted Epona and didn’t wait for Volga before taking off again. Soon enough they were riding full speed across Hyrule Field once more, the Master Sword and their identities hidden, while the Hero repeated the mantra in his mind, “Please don’t be too late…”


	14. The Masquerade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 14 - Contains mild language, implied sexual themes and minor violence.
> 
> WARNINGS: Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

It wasn’t unexpected that Ganon appeared earlier than the three days she’d set for their wedding. When he arrived at the walls of the castle, Zelda was not at all surprised. Nervous, nauseated, and furious? Certainly. But not surprised. 

She stood in the breezeway, just out of site over the parapets where the guards were shouting back and forth to the interlopers, Midna to her left and Impa to her right. “Link and Volga won’t be back for at least a day and a half,” Impa growled. “He knew what we would do.”

“He thinks he knows what we’re going to do,” Midna smirked. “And I am confident the Hero won’t keep up waiting. Meanwhile, I have an idea.” 

Bending over, Midna plucked  the familiar stone crown that was the Fused Shadow from thin air. Holding it up, she removed her hands as the item began to float of its own accord in front of her. “This should keep him occupied for a bit.”

Hearing howls in the distance, Zelda and Impa looked from the Queen of Twilight over the parapets to where Ganon, Naburoo and their men were demanding to be let in. Over the rise of the hill of Hyrule Field behind them, undulating black shapes with the red and teal glowing lines indicative of creatures from Twilight appeared. Some of them were large, wolf shaped beasts, others were humanoid figures, arms longer than natural allowing them to walk on all fours. The second type of creatures lacked true heads, but instead were possessed of flat disks surrounded by long, indistinguishable hair like tendrils.

“You should cover your ears,” Midna suggested, her hands already clasped to her head. Zelda and Impa quickly followed suit, just in time to not only hear, but feel the ribcage rattling shriek the disk headed beasts let loose. Zelda winced, feeling sympathy for her guards, but watched the effect on Ganon and his men with grim approval. 

The small Gerudan and goblinkin army turned in rank to see the new threat racing across the field towards them, and Ganon drew his sword, shouting to his men to charge and fight. Drawn away from the Castle door as they were, Zelda sighed. “Thank you Midna. Come, we have work to do.”

***

After the creatures of Twilight Midna had summoned were defeated, Ganon returned to the castle doors to find them opened to him. Impa’s second in command greeted them, and while there was no cheers or fanfare, the Hyrulean Captain thanked them graciously and said that in light of their defense of the Castle, the princess had agreed to let them in early. He assured them that rooms were being prepared for them all, having the men and horses lead to the barracks near the stables, and leading Ganon and Naburoo to the Throne room. 

Zelda, Midna and Impa watched this in the mirror of Twilight from the throne, and nodded to one another. It was show time. 

-

Gannon entered with broad strides as the doors were opened for him. He was smug if a bit irritated. “Is this how my future bride intends to treat her husband? Making him wait outside for monsters to attack?”

Zelda sat on the throne, head held high and face expressionless. Impa, the Sheikan General of the armies who had stood over his trial and exile, whispering for his head what felt like a lifetime ago, stood to the right of the throne. Arms crossed and red eyes narrowed in hatred he could palpably feel, he sneered to her. To the left of the princess, a second Sheikan stood. Masked and androgynous, the tribe that protected the royal family was always a thorn in his side. That there were two was annoying. One was bad enough.

“And shall I expect this to be how my future husband honors me? By ignoring my words and requests? I said three days’ time,” Zelda retorted, but he could read nothing from her. The delicious fear he’d tasted from her in the Outlands was entirely absent. How disappointing.

Reaching the bottom of the dais, he went to step up, and both Sheikah threw daggers that stuck into the ground before his foot. He had no doubt that they had not missed. Looking up to the princess from under his red bushy eyebrows, he gave a scathing smile. “I found it impossible to curb my enthusiasm. I wished to be wed as soon as possible.”

“It will be possible in two more days,” she said coldly, looking down her nose at him. “The process of royal marriage, lineage and accepting a new monarch is no small thing. As we speak the papers are being drawn, necessary witnesses being summoned and ceremony preparations underway. Your enthusiasm will having no bearing on these things.”

Eyes narrowing, that her demeanor had changed so much merely being in her palace with her Sheikah and guards was disheartening. He still had plans to make her scream, to break her. If she wanted to make it more difficult? So be it. A thought had occurred to him though. 

“Where is your Hero, Princess? Hiding around a corner to stab me when he thinks I’m not paying attention?”

He watched as she swallowed, a crack in her mask. There it was - her weakness. She dropped her eyes and shook her head. “The Captain of the royal guard has abandoned Hyrule. At word of my proposal acceptance, he rode off in a fit. The Baron of Snowpeak volunteered to try and go find him… but I have given up hope he will return.”

Unable to halt the smile that spread over his face, perhaps this would be easier than he thought. Not only was the boy not here to stop him, but it seemed to be a chink in the Princess’s armor. He was jarred from his thoughts with Naburoo’s elbow in his side. The look she gave him brought a bit of clarity - they had anticipated the Hero going after the sword. This could be just a ruse. But whether the boy went for the sword or not, didn’t mean what the princess was saying wasn’t true from her perception. 

“I would give my condolences, but the stitches in my shoulders have an ache preventing me from saying as much,” he purred smoothly. “Might you have dinner with me this evening, my betrothed? Perhaps we can talk in a more private setting.”

There was a pause, a moment of utter stillness from the Princess and her guards as she observed him. He was aware of the guards at the doors and lining the walls of the throne room, in addition the the two Sheikah who were tensely keeping their peace. There was potential for great violence if she ordered it, but either way, he looked forward to her response. Either way, he would enjoy the outcome.

“Certainly. Captain,” she said and the soldier who had escorted Ganon and Naburoo to the throne room stepped forward. “Please show the Warlord to his rooms so he might refresh himself before dinner this evening.” 

The silent disapproval from the two Sheikah drew a grin from Ganon and he bowed. “I look forward to it, my dear,” he chuckled, giving Impa and the masked guard a broad grin, before turning to follow the Hyrulean soldier. Tonight, he would seduce her mind. It wouldn’t matter if the Hero returned for vengeance, because by the time he came back, his Princess would be defending her King. 

***

“I don’t trust this,” Naburoo said, pacing the nice chamber they’d been given. Ganon relaxed in the large brass tub by the fire. This was an opulence he looked forward to becoming accustom. “This has all been too easy.”

“Has it?” he asked, voice deep in contentment. “I think that perhaps you have overestimated the Princess’s defiance in the face of saving her people. The Goddess and her scions have always had the flaw of caring too much for the humans and preventing death to souls that matter not at all. Except to her.”

“Or have you underestimated her capacity for deception?” Naburoo sneered. “Why did those monsters attack us? I have never seen such creatures.”

“That was odd,” Ganon frowned. “There were creatures like that, or similar, in another life I remember, but that was a thousand years ago. Perhaps the presence of two Awakened Triforce wielders is having an effect on the land.”

“You think she is Awakened?”

“I believe her to be. Do you see how she has changed? How she does not fear me in the same way?”

“You think she was not Awakened before?” Naburoo’s eyes were narrowed in contemplation. Something about all of this clearly was not sitting right with her.

“You believe her to have been?”

“I believe we should assume as much and expect every trap and trick they can throw. Then, if none are found, we are pleasantly surprised rather than ambushed.” Arms crossed and pacing, Naburoo’s agitation was growing. “There is no way the Princess would give up her kingdom so easily.”

“This was your plan,” Ganon reminded her with a chuckle. “We have given her no choice. She does not seem pleased, merely coldly resigned.”

Hissing through her teeth, his companion cracked her neck. “Yes, I know it was my plan. And I should be pleased it’s going well… but something isn’t right, Gr-Gannon.” She stopped the slip before it happened, but his eyebrow arched. She’d not fully accepted that he was both the man she worshipped and the reincarnation of the Demon King. 

Reaching one great arm out, he snatched the waistband of her pants and pulled her fully clothed into the tub with him. She squawked and flailed but he caught her and held her to his chest. “Stop flailing, woman. I intend to compliment your foresight if you would calm yourself.”

That gained her attention, and while she was glaring she halted struggling. “You are not wrong, something feels amiss. I will need your eyes and ears whilst I entertain the Princess, make our plot believable. Can I count on you for that?”

“Of course,” Naburoo grumbled. “Though I will have to ring out my only clothing before doing so.”

Ganon chuckled. “Why don’t you strip them, and hang them in front of the fire before rejoining me in this tub. I have some tension I need you to work out.” Naburoo’s jaw set as she tried not to give into him with a smile. 

“Not going to work it out with your whore princess tonight?”

“I did say I was going to try and uphold the ruse until our plan is in stone,” he chuckled pushing her out of the tub and watching her undress with hungry eyes. “So I find your aid in remaining prudent is necessary.” She obliged him, and while it did little to still his mind over thoughts of his plans for Zelda, it did aid the ache of his loins. 

***

Things were looking promising for the Demon King, and never had he recalled a time of feeling more celebratory. He would not celebrate  _ too _ soon. He knew the Hero was still a possible problem, but everything was going to plan, and if that trend kept, he would already be king before the Hero returned… if he returned. 

It was difficult  _ not  _ to smile as he strode into the dinner hall, to find the Princess sitting at the other end of the long banquet table. He of course had a setting at the furthest seat away from her - traditional for the King and Queen to bookend the table and not entirely unexpected a situation. He did however intend to have that change. 

She sat there, lit by candle light in the dark room, watching him coldly as servants appeared with dinners on silver trays for them. Yet to take his seat, he looked over each servant looking for the hero, or the Sheikah hidden amongst them, but none appeared to be anything more than what they were. “You seem so far away for intimate conversation,” Ganon called, his voice echoing in the room around them as the servants left. 

“Something of which you will become accustom, I assure you,” Zelda promised coldly as she cut into her steak. “This is the proper and traditional dinner of the royals. My parents did this my whole life and I intend to continue the tradition.”

“And I supposed they had separate beds in separate room,” he chuckled and began walking down to her. Grabbing his plate as he passed, he set it down in front of the seat next to her and yanked the chair back.

As he sat down, she shot him a look that would have frozen a man in ice had there been magic behind it. “If I thought for a moment I could make a disgusting man such as yourself believe that, I would already be making preparations.” Going back to her meal, Ganon narrowed his eyes. She was not cringing or cowering as he might have expected. Perhaps his actions in the Outlands had not left the impression he’d hoped. “I think your intentions were made clear at your keep. Lest you decide I live in the dungeons, I have no doubt that you will be a beast of a man every night.”

“Never the dungeons for such a beautiful creature,” he rumbled and reached out to caress her cheek. She jerked just out of reach and stared coldly ahead, waiting for him to withdraw his hand. With a heated sigh, he did so. He was trying to gain her confidence this night, despite wanting to beat her into submission and make her beg. “My boorish behavior has given you the wrong impression.” Ganon forced his voice to be even while cutting into his own meal. “Exile was… difficult. It had been so long since my eyes had rest on something lovely and pure as yourself.”

“What’s done is done. I would have your head were it not for the lack of choice I have been given on the nuptials. Hyrule cannot go to war, which would happen if I killed you or refused you as your messenger made very clear,” Zelda nearly spat. “But I have no interest in speaking with you outside of the necessary subjects. What do you know about trade agreements and agriculture?”

Ganon blinked. “What do you mean?”

“The duties of a king include the management of the trade agreements between the North, South, East and West and the distribution of agriculture and livestock.” Without looking up, Zelda ate her dinner and spoke about the trades and duties of the Hyrulean royalty in times of peace and war and what would be expected of him in possibly  _ the  _ most boring subjects  the warlord could conjure to him mind. He had no intention of running the Kingdom as it had been - he would rule in fear and control, the lands bringing him tribute and worship him as a god.

By the time he was done with his meal, he was on his third glass of wine and resting his head in his hand as she continued to drone on about checks and balances, and duty this and duty that… it was enough to make someone fling themselves from the tower.

“Forgive me, my dear, but can we cover this later?” he asked flat out interrupting her after potentially the longest hour of his life. 

She looked up to him with a blank expression. “I have nothing else to discuss with you. If you’re done with it for the evening, then I will take my leave…”

He caught her wrist when she went to stand, and instead of fear he saw true anger flash over her face. It was odd, but exciting. “I wished to get to know more about you. Intimate conversation, not business of state.”

“The Kingdom is my priority.”

“As it is mine, and I look to learn these things in time to keep eternal peace in Hyrule,” he assured her with words that dripped with nectar and false sincerity. “But you are also a priority.”

“You want to know something about me?” she asked through grit teeth. “I despise you, I despise that you have forced anything upon this land, and while I will honor my duty to my kingdom, I do not have to pretend to be more than cordial with you.” Yanking her wrist out of his grip, he noticed a tingle of magic that allowed it to happen - like her wrist was not the size he’d expected.

His eyes narrowed. “Did the Hero break your heart so badly when he left?” He watched the chink in her armor happen again and she turned away from him. 

“We will  _ not  _ speak of him. He has abandoned the land, and I will hear no more about him.”

Standing, Ganon smiled and came to rest his hands on her shoulders. “My condolences, Princess. I know I have not made such a good impression, but I hope to change that in your mind. And I can promise that unlike that boy, I will never leave you.” Her shoulders tensed and she moved one away, but he kept with her. Something felt strange, perhaps she was coming around or she was using magic, but when it touched her shoulders it didn’t feel right, like her wrist had not. It also seemed the power of her Triforce was not reacting to his…

And Ganon was suddenly suspicious

“I cannot say that I can believe you easily,” she grumbled. “But if you are true in your word, I hope to see you prove that.”

“It is as I said in the Outlands,” he said evenly. “Our two great armies and lands can be united and made stronger under peace. Do you remember?”

“I do,” she sighed.

Spinning her around to face him with no warning, Ganon took her by the throat and backed her up against the wall. “Imposter!” he roared. “There was no such conversation when the Princess was in my keep. Who are you,  _ witch _ ?”

The bubbling giggle that erupted from the face of Zelda was no sound he could have thought came from the wielder of Wisdom. “Took you long enough,” the alien, echoic voice said. “I thought the Triforce of power would have told you before now. Or could you not tell over the raging boner-” He squeezed her throat and she coughed as he cut off her air.

_ “WHERE IS THE PRINCESS?!” _

“STOP!” a voice said from the shadows, and the second Sheikah with a mask over her face appeared. Striding forward from the shadows, she reached up to remove her mask and reveal the true Zelda, the pulse of her Triforce hitting him full force as whatever glamour had been masking it from his senses dissipated. 

Ganon swayed on his feet, and his grip loosened on the imposter, enough for the woman to disappear whole cloth. At the shoulder of the revealed princess, Impa also stood, hand on the hilt of the great sword at her back. “You deceived me?!” he snarled, taking a step forward, but Zelda held up a hand.

“And after our last meeting, how could you possibly expect less?” she said evenly. “You attacked me. I felt it necessary to take precautions.”

“This is a dire insult! I will not be-”

“You will be king, if you mean what you said.”

That stopped him. So… he’d been speaking to the imposter, and yet he’d fooled the real princess? Such an idea brought a smirk to his face. “I did.”

She eyed him suspiciously, but stood to her fullest height. “Then we shall marry in the morning. I’d rather have this done.” Turning to Impa she nodded. “Have the nobles summoned.”

“It’s not enough time, Highness,” Impa said through clenched teeth. She was meaning something else he could tell, but Zelda spoke before Ganon could.

“It will have to be. I want this  _ done _ .” She turned to look at him and nodded once sharply. “If you truly hold Hyrule’s interest at heart, then so shall it be.”


	15. Revelation and Resolve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 15 - MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH (not necessarily unforeseen - don't worry, I just need to warn.) Contains mild language, implied sexual themes and depicts fighting violence.
> 
> That being said, this could really be the last chapter. The one that I'm writing to follow is honestly and unabashed 100% FluffyFluffFluff - so if you're not into the feel good happy ending for "Daw's" sake, then go ahead and consider this the end! (I will not be offended ^_^)
> 
>  
> 
> WARNINGS: Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff.

Zelda watched as the preparations for ‘the wedding’ were made in the throne room. Decorations and flowers and people rushing everywhere. Ganon had been seeking her all morning… and had come to her bed room last night to loom over what he had assumed was her sleeping form. It was disturbing and infuriating… but she’d expected it. The illusion she’d created of herself sleeping would have fallen apart if he’d touched it, and she and Mida had sat in Twilight holding their collected breath until he left. 

She sat on the throne, wearing her battle accoutrement and crown, holding the Mirror of Twilight and scrying where Ganon was in the castle -in order to avoid him. Not that he could find her just now. Midna had pulled her into Twilight to hide until the last moment they could get away with it. Normal folk became spirits in Twilight, but Zelda possessed the Triforce of Wisdom and was as she had ever been. 

“So how are you so certain this isn’t the worst idea ever?” Midna asked from where she float upside down above the throne and watching the mirror as well.

Zelda smiled. “Were you not the one who said Link wouldn’t keep us waiting?” she asked with a grin, waving her hand over the mirror to change the image. What Midna saw pulled her down closer and drew a smile from the Twili. Even in her full form, beautiful and exotic as she was, there was always something impish about her. Moreso when she smiled like that.

“Oooooooooh. Oh, I see!”

Nodding slowly, Zelda beamed at her friend. “It’s almost time to begin.”

-

Ganon stood at the foot of the Dais, trying to maintain his expression of ambivalence as the crowd drew in. Nobles were announced one by one as they were allowed into the throne room, the Sage beside him smiling indifferently and Naburoo watching the crowd for anything and everything suspicious. But in reality. Ganon was irritated. The Princess had not been seen all day, and he suspected she was backing out. No matter, he could turn it to his advantage if she had - he was the to be ruler of Hyrule, and in her absence could take it by force until he hunted her down and dragged her back… but that would take time. 

Naburoo had been on edge the whole time. She’d heard nothing of the Hero or the Dragonknight, other than the boy had taken off in a frenzy the last he’d been seen. If there was a ploy, no one at the castle knew it as all serfs and servants, soldiers and Council seemed to truly believe he’d left. 

They knew he’d gone for the sword. Ganon had felt his power restored that morning. It had erased the last of Naburoo’s doubts when she’d borne witness to the black lighting and purple fire of the Demon King wreathing his form as he lift from the ground, roaring in laughter. The boy had made it there, but by the time he’d make it back not only would Ganon be King of Hyrule, but he would be ready and with the full power of his legacy at his whim. 

“Lord and Lady Gaepora of the Cloudlands,” the herald called as a tall elderly man with a wide belly and his little old hooded wife shuffled in and took their places near the front. 

Well his plans  _ would  _ be wonderful if this pomp and circumstance would ever end. 

After but a few more nobles, the doors to outside closed and the trumpets sounded, heralding the arrival of the bride. Zelda, the presence of her Triforce thrumming palpably in the air to him and even stronger than before, walked around the corner of the hall at the far end. Wearing not a bridal gown, but that of her warriors’ garb she held her royal rapier, blade pointed to the heavens with both hands in place of a bouquet. It was a statement - that this was for duty and not desire. Ganon smirked and repressed a chortle. Precious. Well she could be defiant for a bit longer. That would be beaten from her eventually.

Impa walked behind her, but did not give her away. Coming to stand by her side as Zelda, cold and distant, turned to face Ganon. He offered his hand, but her gaze was unwavering, as was her hold on her rapier. He sneered and reached out to take her hand by the wrist and try to force it, but as he did so the eerie echo of her imposter from the night before brought  the hairs on his arms up. This time, it did not come from Zelda, but instead all around them, echoing in the throne room.

The moment he touched her wrist, the Sage to marry them disappeared… as did most of the guests save a few Rito, Gorons and Zora who suddenly wore armor and were armed in the seats. That and the Lord and lady Gaepora. From the corners of the room where there were the deepest shadows began to pour forth the black creatures which they’d fought on Hyrule field the day before. It was a different kind of black magic from that which Ganon wielded, but no less old.

“ _ What is this _ ?” Ganon demanded, trying to jerk Zelda to him, but she fought, her face now a mask of anger. 

“Your end, Demon.” However it was not Zelda who spoke.

-

It was good that Ganon lashed out when he had, as Link would not have been able to hold his tongue any longer. Throwing off his disguise of the Lady Gaepora, Link drew the Master Sword and kicked the chairs out of his way as he stalked forward. 

“Impossible,” Ganon spat, and yanked Zelda hard enough that she cried out, wrapping his arm round her throat to shield himself from the Hero. “You,  _ boy _ are a pain in my side that I intend to end.”

“I will be a thorn in your side every time, Demon. Every life,” he said, drawing up his sword into a two handed grip and beginning to circle his nemesis, “Anywhere, any time, every time, until I find a way to bind or destroy you forever.”

The warlord chuckled and leaned in to brush his mouth over Zelda’s ear as her face was turning colors from the lack of air he gave her. “Watch as I slaughter your hero, Goddess. This time, I will win.”

Throwing Zelda to Naburoo, Ganon drew the large sword at his belt and laughed slowly as he approached Link… his aura erupting into purple fire. 

Chaos broke out in the throne room.

From the high windows and hidden places in the room, Gerudan soldiers appeared and began fighting the Zora, Rito and Goron allies in addition the the beasts of Twilight. Impa charged forward to aid Zelda who had elbowed Naburoo in the ribs and was currently wrestling for her sword to fight the woman. Volga was wielding his great spear and taking on as many Gerudans as he could manage whilst Midna blinked into and out of existence firing weaponized light at their foes from the Mirror of Twilight. 

Princes Ruto appeared when the throne room doors were thrown open and a new wave of Zora fighters rushed into the chamber. “Stop the attackers!” Ruto called to her men, “I want them taken prisoner - they will answer for their crimes!”

A flash of gold light shone blindingly from aside the throne, as Zelda freed herself from Naburoo’s grasp. The princess leapt back and leveled her sword at the woman, Naburoo’s scimitar drawn as Zelda squared off… in time for Naburoo to turn and run. The Gerudan woman was darting for the side door in the hopes of making her escape, thinking she would live to fight another day.

Until Impa stepped in her path. Zambato sword slung over her shoulder, the General of the Hyrulean army smirked as Naburoo skid to a halt. “I don’t think so, traitor,” the Sheikah sneered. 

Holding her scimitar at ready, Naburoo growled. “Stupid witch, you’re as irrelevant as your dead tribe. I’ll happily end you.”

Bending her knees into a deep stance, one hand out in a mudra before her, Impa nodded. “You may try.” When the Gerudan charged with a wail of fury, Impa did not move. She waited, holding her stance and patience until the very last moment. With one great swing of her sword, Naburoo went flying backwards like a flung ragdoll, landing on her back with a cracking sound as her head hit the stones. The slice would have cut her in half, but Impa had used only the flat of her blade. 

Striding forward to loom over her new prisoner, Impa put her foot on the Gerudan’s chest. “You should stay down,” she leered to the breathless woman, gasping now that she’d had the wind knocked from her. 

Across the chamber, Zelda had joined the fight with Link. Despite the anarchy around them, the Hero fought the Demon King uninterrupted. Harried by slices and stabs of the sword of Evil’s Bane, Ganon also parried and dodged attacks from Zelda. His great sword rang with the parried blows and grooves made in the stone where his deflected attacks landed. Arrows of light rained down from overhead as Zelda lept off the dais, landing in a roll on the other side of him. Forced to shield himself with his gauntleted arm, Ganon never saw the wave of blue energy from the Master sword coming. 

Knocked back to sprawling on the ground, he tried to recover rapidly but Link was on top of him with a downward stab that took the Demon King in his shoulder. With a great roar of anger and pain, Ganon kicked his feet up, knocking the hero off balance. The warlord then released a blast of power from his magic and the Triforce, throwing Link back against the throne in a burst of red and purple energy. 

The Master Sword dropped during impact, Link’s vision blacking out a moment as a new pain blossomed in his back and head. Distantly he knew Ganon would be charging him and he needed to get it together, but it was difficult in the wake of having hit his head. As the blood rushing in his ears receded and his hearing returned, he heard the Demon King’s roar and clanging armor, opening his eyes just in time to see Zelda land in front of him from somewhere outside his field of vision. She held up a hand and as Ganon swung his sword downwards in a killing blow, but the blade wreathed in purple flames struck a barrier. 

Gold and blue energy encircled Link and Zelda, the Princess completely confident and unfazed by the blade near her face. Ganon was still roaring, pressing the blade with all of his power down into the magical shield Zelda held effortlessly. “Give up, Demon,” she said, her voice echoing slightly which power. 

“ _ Never! _ ” he erupted furiously, spittle evaporating as his aura burst with the purple and black energies he commanded. “ _ You will never destroy me! I AM POWER!” _

Link stood and stepped forward, bloodied and panting, but gaze steel and resolute as he bent to reclaim the Master Sword. Gannon gave a cruel and strained chuckle.

“You don’t have it in you boy. You can’t. I am too powerful now-”

However a bolt of pure white light struck him in the back at the same time true orange and red flame assaulted him. Third and finally, blue daggers made of ice and water rained down from overhead and took the warlord to a knee. However his roar of rage and anger was silenced, as the blade of the Master Sword pierced his chest, through to his back and the plates of his armor. Eyes wide in a moment of shock, Ganon looked from Zelda’s dispassionate expression to the resolve of the Hero who had just skewered him. 

“I will rise again,” he coughed, blood running from the corner of his mouth, the man’s strength seeping from him rapidly. 

“Not in this life,” a soft, feminine voice said and around the dying Warlord, an orb of pure magic appeared. Lana stepped from behind the throne, her book open and fingers working the spell, trapping him.

“And one day,” Link seethed from between clenched teeth, “Not ever again.” 

With one last choked gurgling noise, Ganon’s eyes unfocused and his body slumped forward. Retrieving the master sword, Link stood as Lana’s orb shrank to encase the pure dark energy the Demon King’s body evaporated into. Midna, having tucked the Mirror of Twilight away, float in the air next to Volga and Impa who’d added their strength to that of Link’s. He smiled and nodded to them, with every intention of apologizing to Zelda for taking so long, when suddenly he was tackled. 

Still a bit jumpy from battle, he tensed a moment, before his arms came up around the weeping princess who’d wrapped herself around him. “I think my ribs are broken,” he groaned but was grinning against her shoulder. 

“You should be more careful,” she sobbed, the edge of laughter shaking her voice. 

“Well I don’t mean to interrupt,” Princess Ruto said, sauntering forward, the remaining Gerudans having surrendered in the face of Ganon’s defeat, and Ruto’s personal guard holding up the now unconscious Naburoo, “But what would the Princess of Hyrule like down with the traitors. 

Zelda released her grip on Link, but not without stealing a brief kiss before she turned to face the Zoran royalty. Wiping her eyes, Link reached down and took her other hand. Zelda smiled as she nodded to Ruto. “I will have them escorted back to their people. The Gerudans have their ways of dispensing Justice, and I will allow them to police their own as all here are exiled extremists. Captain?” she called, and Impa’s second appeared, slightly battered but no worse for the wear, at full attention. “Please send a missive to the Gerudan Chiefs that we will be transporting their criminals to them. Their Elders will decide their fates.”

“Yes, majesty,” he said with a bow and set off to see it done.

“We’ll need to return this to the Sacred Grove,” Lana said, brushing her blue bangs out of her face and nodding to the soul of Ganon she still had bobbing in midair. “The Triforce will go with it, but that is as it should be.”

“He’s Din’s problem now,” Impa grumbled.

“Again,” Zelda corrected. 

“And we’ll seal it with the Master Sword.” Link rubbed his forehead with a sigh. His wounds were starting to hurt as his adrenaline began to fade.

“Excellent!” Ruto clapped happily. “So… now that business is settled and we’re all here under the pretense of a wedding, why don’t we actually have one?!”

Despite Ruto’s excitement, everyone just stared at her a moment. There were varied levels of injury from Zelda’s somewhat bruised arms to Link and Volga’s bleeding and possibly broken bones. Link looked to Zelda and smirked, finding her eyes were also twinkling as she looked back to him. “We have a Noble and Military witness,” he said recalling her words from Snowpeak. 

“We have no Sage,” Impa chuckled. 

“Yes we do,” Zelda smiled and looked over her shoulder to Lana. “The Sage of Time.”

There was a moment of hesitation from the Sorceress, as Midna, Impa and Volga watched her intensely, Link hoping that this was not too much to ask of his friend. To his surprise and delight however, Lana’s face blossomed into a grin. 

Reaching out, she took the now fist sized orb of Ganon’s soul and tucked it into her pouch, runes flashing as she tied it closed with a spell. Coming to stand between Link and Zelda, the sorceress pushed them gently so that they stood a step down on the dais from her, as the illusory Sage had been earlier. 

Without discussion or coordination, Midna, Ruto and the soldiers that could, all righted chairs and made the best showing the gathered could manage in the debris of battle, While Impa came to Zelda’s side, and Volga to Link’s. 

Link sheathed the Master sword, Zelda her rapier, and joined hands with growing smiles as Lana began. “It has been longer than the reckoning of Time since the Goddess chose her hero,” Lana started, and instantly tears came to Zelda’s eyes… even Link was worried he might cry. 

With the most beautiful speech Hyrule had yet to hear, Lana performed the ceremony with grace and eloquence, leaving the gathered joyful and emotional, despite Midna’s attempts to try and hide it. When the blessings were said and traditional vows exchanged, the Sorceress paused. “Link, you have anything to say?  _ Make it good _ ,” she added with a forced whisper, the gathered laughing. Zelda just beamed at him. 

“I do.” Clearing his throat, Link brought Zelda’s hand to his lips, brushing her knuckles. “I have always, and will always find you, aid you, save you on the rare occasion you might need it, and time and again, I will love you. Forever.”

Tears refreshed with the swell of love and joy Zelda felt at his words. Lana was also choked up, the back of her hand pressed to her lips as she attempted not to blubber. She waved at Zelda, managing a muffed, “Same question…”

Zelda laughed and squeezed Link’s hands. “It is said there was a time that I chose you as my hero. Though none now live who recall the truth of that first life, in my heart I know it doesn’t matter. Because I will always choose you. I will always love you, my Hero.” Link’s smile was warm and bright at her words, his aches entirely forgotten for the moment. 

“Oh I can’t even,” Lana wept. “By the power invested in me by Hylia and the three Golden Goddesses as the Guardian Sage of Time, I pronounce you married. Now kiss already!”

With laughter and cheers from the crowd echoing the throne room around them, Link pulled Zelda against his chest as her arms encircled his neck. The world faded around them as his lips pressed to hers, for there was no greater fanfare than the beat of their hearts in that moment, together as one as it always should, and would be.


	16. Conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 16 - 100% Fluff'N'Smut. The final chapter in The Heart of Wisdom story. Thanks for sticking with guys!
> 
> WARNINGS: Depicts Explicit Sexual content.  
> Contains Hyrule Warriors spoilers and story items. I highly recommend playing the game if you haven’t! It’s complete fluff, but fun fluff…. minus Lana.

“You lied to us?!” Link wailed from Epona. If Zelda hadn’t been seated in front of him, he might have fallen off. 

Midna’s laughter was eerie and musical in the air around them. “Of course I did! Lana told me she wasn’t supposed to intervene, but knew you needed help. So, I fibbed a little to cover at the time.”

Midna float along between Epona and Impa’s horse, the party returning from having bound Ganon’s soul once more under the Master Sword in the Sacred Grove. Impa and Lana rode slightly ahead of them and Lana turned in her saddle. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked her to lie. Don’t be mad at Midna.”

Link sighed, understanding the need for the deception. It honestly wasn’t that he was agitated about. “But that means that we won’t see you again,” Zelda said softly, reaching out to take Midna’s hand, voicing the true root of Link’s upset. 

The Twilight Queen just gave her a sad smile. “Yeah, but think about it this way - I’ve gotten to see you two again, twice more than I ever thought I would.”

“This is where we part ways,” Impa sighed, looking to Lana and Midna. They’d reached the fork in the wooded path, one way taking their party back to Hyrule Castle, the other a path that would take Midna and Lana back to the Sorceress’s sanctum. 

For the first time since the battles with Darkness had started months ago, everyone dismounted and gave Lana a proper goodbye, not a one of them letting her slip off without it this time. The Sorceress was clearly touched, and wiped her eyes with a smile. “Thank you all.”

“Without your help, we would not have been able to do this,” Zelda said solemnly. “It is you we should thank. Thank you, Lana.”

“Damn I’m gonna miss you guys,” Midna said, seeming to voice both her own and Lana’s feelings. 

“Same,” Link said, squeezing Midna in a hug one last time. 

Volga however cleared his throat. “I will accompany Lana and Midna back to the Sanctum to assure their safety,” the Dragonknight volunteered. Midna turned her lips in against a smile at the same moment Lana’s eyes lit up a little. 

Zelda nodded to him, seeing something for the first time but keeping her council. “Travel safely then,” Impa said, clapping his shoulder before swinging back up onto her horse. All riders mounted again and called their final farewells before the party split and headed for their destinations. 

***

Lana’s sanctum wasn’t much more than a half day’s ride from the point in the journey they’d bid goodbye to their friends, and there had not been much talking. A somber aire had fallen over the companions, but the lack of conversation had let them make good time. 

The Dragonknight insisted on seeing Midna safely back as well, if it was what she desired. It clearly both was and was not, the Twili yearning to stay but knowing she had a duty to her time to return. Twilight could not be without its ruler, despite it’s Queen’s desires. That and she had once possessed the Triforce of Wisdom. She knew that it was necessary.

Turning to Volga, Midna winked as Lana’s voice casting the spell echoed around them. “Watch over these idiots for me, yeah?” she said with a broad grin.

Bowing respectfully - she was royalty after all - with his right hand over his heart, he nodded. “Of course, your highness. As best that I can.”

“Oh come on, warlock,” she laughed, “We both know if anyone can it’s you. And Volga?” He stood, meeting her eyes to find the burning coals of her irises glittering with amusement. “You’re going to handle your heart, right?”

Smirking, the Dragonknight sighed. “You don’t know how to avoid poking dragons do you?”

“Literally compelled.”

“Of course. And yes, I do.”

“Good.”

Turning to see the portal was open, Midna shot Lana a broad grin. “You’ll come visit, right? Because you can, and we both know it.” Lana hesitated, but gave Midna a resolute nod. “Good. You should bring him with you,” she said and with the last float backwards through the portal as it closed. 

The air became less charged around them, and the light faded with the magic. The Sanctum was currently still anchored in this time, Lana had explained that she would have to unanchor it eventually, but she hadn’t once she realized Darkness was going to yet return.

Looking around for any excuse to procrastinate, Lana saw nothing she could use to waylay her duty any longer. “It’s time,” she said sadly. 

Volga however took off his helmet and set it on the table next to him. “What’s the hurry?”

“I’ve already stayed too long,” the sorceress intoned quietly, turning her back to him as she tried to not let her emotions get the better of her. Volga saw this and took a step forward. “I need to return to my duties.”

“And is it all monitoring? Constantly watching the time stream?”

“Well no,” she sighed. That’s what I do mostly, because there’s nothing much better to do. I used to read, or write, but I’ve read all the books and very little inspires me. No one to be inspired by, or to even talk to.” Turning to him, he saw her lashes were again damp with emotional tears. “You weren’t wrong, about what you said. It is very lonely, and… I’m not looking forward to going back.

Dropping his gauntlets and gloves to the table beside his helm, Volga returned his gaze to Lana and reached out, offering her a hand. She took it, but the Dragonknight pulled her closer rather than that mere gesture of comfort. Gathering her other hand as well, Volga gently urged her to look up at him. “And what if I went with you?”

“You can’t,” she gasped, shaking her head. 

“Why not?”

“The...rules…”

“So the goddess forbid you from having friends?”

“Well… no…”

“She said no one could ever share your eternity. Your loneliness? She wanted you to be lonely forever?”

“No! No she would have never!”

“So Nayru, Farore and Din have appeared and said as much?”

She narrowed her eyes, seeing he intended to continue in this manner. “No. There was no official decree from any Divinity. It was just… understood. I thought.”

“And you never questioned, as it wasn’t a problem until-”

“I realized I was lonely,” she admitted, her voice rough with the truth of her words. 

“Then I will come with you, and you will no longer be lonely.”

She shook her head, still resisting. “Your Barony, the people you defend…”

“Are in good hands. I have left the lands to my cousin who has done magnificently in my absence over the last few months, and deserves the reward. When I joined Cia, let Darkness steal my heart… from that moment forward, I was never meant to go back to Snowpeak. Not permanently.

“But our friends… your life…”

“They will understand. If I had my guess, Zelda already knows.” He gave her a smile and watched as the sorceress relaxed slowly, starting to accept that he meant it. “Besides, who better to accept a once cursed Warlock knight like myself, than the purest goodness of a true Sorceress?”

“Oh Volga!” she cried and fell forward into his arms, forehead against his chest. “Do you really, truly mean it?”

Wrapping her in a warm hug, the dragonknight found it impossible not to smile. “Of course I do. I can think of no better fate than living outside of time with a kind, intelligent, and beautiful soul who wants nothing more than to not be alone. Only the Goddesses could grant a better fate.”

-

Lana wept softly a moment, accepting his affection and searching her own. It seemed that her gratitude could lend to misunderstood emotions on both sides… but then there was a part of her that knew. He was one of her few friends, she already cared deeply for him. Would it really be misunderstood?

Looking up to the handsome Knight holding her in chaste comfort, Lana smiled. Something told her that in those red, magical eyes might be where her true destiny lay. Yes, yes she could fall in love with Volga. 

Pushing off his chest gingerly, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the center of the room. “Alright! Then let me show you how to unanchor the Sanctum. Then I can show you how to anchor it! We’re going to need to if we intend to visit Midna!” Feeling more bubbly than she’d felt in months, Lana’s heart was light and effervescent as she stood across from Volga and smiled. He seemed amused and pleased, and endlessly patient.

Yes. Yes, she could be very happy like this. And she would be. And he would be. And they would be happy together, she and her Dragonknight Warlock.

“Okay, now repeat after me…”

***

The Castle was nearly repaired from the battles both recent and previous by the time they returned, the people recovering as well. They made the Castle by evening of the next day thanks to Lana’s magic there and back, having left almost directly after the ceremony that had wed Link and Zelda. 

By the time they rode over the drawbridge and into the stables, Impa was ready to be done with the giggling and affectionate newlyweds. Leaping from her horse and handing the reigns to the stable boy, the Sheikah’s laughter echoed with her words, “Please, Highnesses, have the evening off. I will handle what needs handling - far away from the two of you. For as many days as you need.”

Link, feeling much healed after the potions Zelda had fed him, slid down from Epona and reached up to help her down. In so doing, he wrapped her in his arms and brushed his nose to hers affectionately. “Where to, my wife?”

“The bath,” she laughed, kissing him chastely and pushing away from him. But the Hero pouted, catching her hand as she started to walk away. Hyrule castle did not have the shared baths of Snowpeak which meant drawing up tubs, possibly in separate rooms. 

“Together?” he asked hopefully as she pulled him along.

“No,” she giggled, teasing him cruelly. “Remember, you did not grant my wish in Snowpeak because of all my promises for our wedding night. Now? Now you will wait for those promises.” He whimpered as they made it into the palace and up the back stairs towards her private chambers. “Oh hush,” she laughed. “You made me wait, and now I’m just returning the favor.”

“You might be evil…” he whined. Reaching her rooms, she tried to shake him off and close the door, but Link wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him, laying kisses on the back of her neck. 

“I’m filthy,” she argued, but merely waddled into the room without shaking him off.

Link kicked the door closed behind them, and tucked his face against the bend of her shoulder. “I don’t care. The world isn’t ending, we’re not at war, Darkness is bound and I have the most beautiful wife in all of creation. There is but one thing in the world that I need right now and a bath is not it.”

“What if I begged to differ?” She teased, leaning back against him as she kicked off her boots. Another pitiful whine was the only answer he could manage, inspiring a round of giggles from her.  “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and see what we can do about that whining problem you have…”

She pulled him over to the wash basin, clearly not summoning the servants for a tub, and began helping him off with his clothing while accepting his help with hers. Making an affectionate game of the undressing and washing, Link discovered that any nervousness he’d once had about the splendor of her body and their intimacy was completely gone. He had a lot to learn, but he’d already brought her pleasure once before, and they had the rest of their lives to learn even more. 

He watched her run the cloth over herself carefully and he knew she was tormenting him, the smirk she gave over her shoulder confirmation he’d not really needed. However before he could gather his thoughts enough to respond, she was cleaning the dried blood and dirt from his arms and chest. “I don't want to be reminded constantly that you nearly died today. Not tonight…” Despite her smile, her voice was soft with emotion.

Link stopped her hands gently and took the cloth from her, cleaning himself off entirely and with haste before reaching out and pulling her against him once more. Claiming her lips in a deep kiss that spoke of his passion for her, he strove to erase the upset that threatened her mind. When he needed to breath more deeply, he broke away just enough to rest his forehead to hers and look her in the eye. “No more of that,” he purred, one hand coming to tangle in the soft hair at the nape of her neck, fingers massaging gently in the hopes of coaxing and distracting. “No more thoughts of what could have happened. Only what did, and what’s going to.”

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears, but she gave him a smile and nodded gently. “Like how today you became my husband?”

“And you my wife,” he grinned encouragingly. 

She grinned up to him, happiness resurging as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body to him in a line from chest to knee. Link was very distracted, and undeniably aroused when her lips brushed his. “My King,” she whispered.

He couldn’t take it any longer. Link didn’t give a flying octorok’s backside if they were clean any more. Bending his head to taste her lips again with a low rumble of desire, arms around her waist he lift her from her feet and carried her to the bed. 

Bending to lay her down, she refused to release his neck or abandon his kisses so he followed her down with a smile. Once comfortable, Link rest to her side slightly and held her close. Hands roaming her sides, the feel of her skin was slowly driving him mad. His kisses trailed down her neck and over her shoulder and as his lips brushed the soft flesh of one breast she cooed in anticipation, the sweet, feminine sound inflaming his blood.

It was an act of will to maintain his mind as the soft noises of pleasure she made under his hands and lips were enough to strip him of civilised thinking for the rest of his life. She was frenzied and begging him softly after a short while, and when his dancing fingers could tell she was on the verge of pleasure, he drew up beside her. “Zel,” he whispered and was trying to form words to make sure she was ready, but Zelda had other ideas. 

She silenced him with a hungry kiss, and pulled him over atop her as her knees parted and accepted him between. There was no stopping the moan of true pleasure and full body shudder that wracked him as his need caressed her sweet warmth for the first time. After that, there was no more self control. 

He met her hunger in kisses, and positioned himself before one hand came to hold her hip, the other propping him up over her. He had intended to be slow and gentle their first time, but she undid him so thoroughly, he found it impossible to maintain his intentions. Hips thrust forward, once within her desire there was no other heaven he would know. She was perfection, the way he fit within her perfect… Divine, and a fevered ache began to take over his entire body. 

Beneath him, Zelda’s back arched and the soft wail that ripped from her was a sound of pure ecstasy. Her legs came up to wrap about his hips, and when Link remembered how to breath again, his body began to move of it’s own volition. His thrusts became heated and greedy, needing to please her, bring her pleasure and find his own. Each coo and whimper from her spurring him on further until finally her legs tensed around him and she cried out. It was a beautiful thing to watch, his princess so in ecstasy that she came up off the bed, shuddering repeatedly with the stroke of his body into hers. It also inspired fire in his lions that demanded satiation or it might kill him. 

But then suddenly, he was on his back and looking up at the blissful and mischeivous face of his wife from under the curtain of her golden hair. He didn’t entirely realize or recall how this had transpired, only that she had kept him within her in so doing. 

Heart racing and breath short, he was going to ask if she was pleased before begging her to let him find satisfaction, but then her hips began to move astride him. Words were no longer an option. Little fireworks were going off in his brain, and his eyes were glued to the lusty Goddess who moved atop him. She was smiling in addition to her mewls of furthered rapture, and watching him with her blue-violet eyes as she moved his hands to her hips. 

He was only a mortal man. Some might argue that, but Link was well aware of his limitations. Resisting or maintaining any semblance of coherency with the vision above him was one of them; impossible. His hands gripped where she’d placed them and he began thrust up to meet her gyrations with blind abandon. She bent forward, her soft chest brushing his face in the processes before she claimed his mouth in hungry kisses once more, and it was done.

With a cry against her lips, he moved within her as the fireworks moved from his mind throughout his entire body until he could no longer. A languid and heavy feeling started to spread in his veins and all he could do was weakly return the kisses she gave him. 

Floating, though he was mostly sure he’d not left the bed, Link was dimly aware when Zelda slid off to his side. He managed to tuck her under his arm as he tried to catch his breath that she’d stolen, head lolling over towards her. “I…Zel.... That…”

She giggled at his poor attempted to speak and touched a finger to his lips. “Yes it was,” she purred and nuzzled his neck. “And it will be every night for the rest of our lives.”

The thought brought a lazy grin to his face, and he rolled up to his side to gather her in both arms. Poetry was trying to dance around his mind for the dizzying spectrum of feelings and emotions whirling  around his mind. There was nothing else he could ever want outside of this, and he wanted to tell her, but he couldn’t find his voice.

“I know,” she grinned, accepting him into her arms as he curled around her. “I tried to convince you of this in Snowpeak…”

He chortled once sharply. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

“Mmm… maybe,” she teased and kissed his forehead. “But not for a while. But it’s alright, because I adore teasing you.”

The warm feeling tugging at his consciousness, he smiled at her words. He honestly liked her teasing too. It felt like a lifetime ago he’d met the kind but somewhat distant and regal Princess of Hyrule - she was the same person, but the nymph in his arms was warm and loving, brave and kind as she was funny and made of mischief. It was also, in realilty far longer ago that they’d met. A truth that would always warm his soul. She was also his, while at the same time owning him mind, body and soul.

“And, my hero?” she said softly, rubbing her cheek affectionately against his hair.

“Yes, my Princess?”

“I love you.”

Link smiled and turned his sleepy face up to her for a slow kiss, full of the pure,

unbridled love he felt in return. “And I you, Zel. Always.”

She smiled and nodded, giving him that kiss as she affirmed, “Forever.”

  
~fin~


End file.
